Sex and Love: Move Your Eyes Six Inches Up
by lezonne
Summary: Problems just keep coming don't they? Hermione's trying to keep a smooth steady relationship with Draco, but is he pushing for more? What's his secret? Sequel to Think With Your Head Not Your Dick; rated for same reasons **Photo not mine!**
1. Week 10

**Title: **Sex and Love: Move Your Eyes 6 Inches Up

**Time-line: **last week of December 2002-end of February 2003

**Type: **Romance/Humor/Drama/Suspense

**Chapter length: **extremely varied, from 5,000 to 9,000

**Main Characters (alphabetical order): **Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger

**Supporting Characters/Secondary Characters (alphabetical order): **Astoria Greengrass, Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass, Minerva McGonagall, Minister of Magic, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Neville Longbottom, Pansy Parkinson, Theo Nott

**Minor Characters (alphabetical order): **Bellatrix Lestrange, Harry Potter, Lucius Malfoy, Luna Lovegood, Narcissa Malfoy, Ronald Weasley, Severus Snape, Viktor Krum

* * *

><p><strong>Part 2 of the Sex and Love stories. Read <strong>**Think With Your Head Not Your Dick ****before attempting to read this, or you may become highly confused.**

* * *

><p><strong>Summery: <strong>The Ball has passed, and Hermione and Draco are adjusting to life after dealing with Flint. However, Malfoy has secrets of his own that Hermione had yet to uncover. What's with the necklace, room, his family? And what deadline is Draco hiding from her? Hermione shared her story with us, now its Draco's turn to bring his past and his secrets into the light.

* * *

><p>Draco awoke in a grouchy mood. Sleeping was great-no nightmares or nothing. He just wasn't that interested in meeting Hermione's parents, considering their obvious dislike for her past relationships. He was completely ready to be put in the same place as the others, and have to fight for the parents respect.<p>

That was something you had to do with all girls parents, but Granger's would just be far more difficult. He had more then a few odds against him, and Malfoy had never been good with people he was bred to hate.

It was going to be a long day.

Hermione was frantically running about the apartment, checking her hair like he had only seen her do once before (the night of the Ball) and rechecking the items in her purse multiple times. He sat on the couch and watched her panic, feeling obligated to comfort her but not particularly sure how. Parents...well, he had never been exactly good in that area, if history was any teacher.

At five 'til ten, Draco stopped her running and kissed her ear, gently reminding her that they needed to leave and apparate nearby, and that worrying herself anymore would cause wrinkles. She nearly laughed.

Hermione's home was a lovely two story house on a quiet road Draco noticed, and he was instantly stricken by how very _muggle _everything felt. He didn't feel any pull of magic or the smell of a potion, the commotion of some magical joke from the Weasley joke shop going horribly amiss and he didn't see people running around with butter beer or see chocolate frogs. Even in his flat it seemed to have more magic surrounding it, which may have been a delusion of his mind since he hated the town around his home unless he was out looking for a shag-which he didn't do anymore anyways.

They walked to the door. Hermione's heart was pounding in her chest. She could've apparated in, but it could come off as impolite since she had been gone for so long. It seemed terrible for her to just open the door too. She felt like a stranger standing outside her other home, like some forgotten piece in the puzzle.

Draco wrapped a gentle arm around her as she wrapped softly on the door, probably too soft to be heard. He rolled his eyes and reached up, knocking harshly on the door. Hermione glared at him, snapping her head around as the door opened.

A middle-aged woman stood before them, her hair a bit darker then Hermione's and pulled into a ponytail that hung limply behind her with age. She was rather thin for her estimated age (which Draco was afraid to even think of and have the woman hear, and watch her curse him forever) and Draco hoped Hermione still looked so good in the future.

"Hermione!" The woman's face warmed into a smile and the girl stepped away from him into the embrace of her mother. The elder woman's eyes were brimmed with tears, and he found himself looking away from the moment.

He and his mother had never embraced like that.

"Its so good to see you," she continued, releasing her daughter to study her face. "How I've missed you."

"I've missed you too mom, but please don't go all mushy book on me."

She raised an eyebrow and Draco frowned. "What?"

"Never mind, I just meant don't get all sappy." Hermione took a single step away from her mother and gripped Draco's hand, before turning back to her with a smile on her face. "Mom, this is my...boyfriend Draco."

Hermione's mother scanned over Draco's form, a smile plastered on her face that Draco decided had to be faked. "This is the Draco you've been explaining for years honey? He's not at all how you described last time. I don't see anything sinister about him."

Draco chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as Hermione gasped, "Mom!"

Her mother let a faint blush pass over her cheeks. "I'm sorry honey, but the description didn't fit. Malfoy, right? Draco Malfoy?"

He nodded once, extending his hand in a polite gesture. "Mrs. Granger, its a pleasure to meet you. I see where Hermione gets her eyes, their rather gorgeous."

Her mother's smile expanded. "Thank you dear! Please, come on in!"

Hermione sulked through the door, horrified at how very bizarre her mother sounded today, like some airhead from the late 1900's. Draco was going to think she was mentally deranged by the end of this.

At least Draco was attempting to be a gentleman so far, and it was working.

Hermione's father sat in a chair in the kitchen, reading a paper and trying very hard to ignore the couple as they followed his wife into the kitchen. He gritted his teeth as he heard a male voice speaking to her, and wondered what this one looked like.

He folded up the newspaper and smiled softly as Hermione ran over to him for a hug. Over his daughter's shoulder he watched the new man in Hermione's life with extreme caution as he spoke to his wife, who was giggling.

He inwardly groaned. She got this way around all of Hermione's boyfriends, like she was the reason Hermione was exactly who she was, despite the fact that they had hardly been involved in Hermione's life since her fifth year at that magic school.

_Blond hair. That was different from the other's at least. Nice build, could protect her. Tall, so his little girl could at least hide behind him. And from the appearance since he entered into the kitchen, well mannered. But of course, that could always be a show like with the others to impress the parents._

Hermione's father frowned as the young man came up to him, extending a hand. "Draco Malfoy," he stated simply.

He took the boys hand firmly in his, shaking hard. "Mr. Granger is how you'll address me until I feel otherwise about you."

_Over protective father type hmm? _"Of course," he said respectfully, glancing at Hermione.

They ate an early brunch, with Hermione and her mother doing most of the talking through a strained conversation. Conversing about her history the last few years was out of the question as far as she was concerned, and avoiding those questions again and again was drawing strange looks to her person from her parents. As the morning drew on she felt wary, and wished to be finished with the visit and her mother's obnoxious amount of questions.

The tension was thick between her father and Draco, both of which barely spoke the entire morning, especially to each other. Draco answered her mother's questions to the extent he could, often adding some cool remark at the end that made her smile. Yet she noticed that both hardly ever broke contact, like they were trying to stare the other down.

When the meal was finished and Mrs. Granger decided to go into the living room, her husband asked to have a word with Draco alone and all Hermione could do was mouth sorry as he followed the older man.

Draco followed Hermione's father up the stairs, studying the house with a critical eye. It was small, and absolutely _muggle_. Everything was done by hand, there were no elves, and no pictures that moved. He rolled his eyes as they headed down a hall.

Now he had to converse with the man who appeared to feel nothing towards him besides hate. _"Wonderful." _

Mr. Granger wandered into something that looked like a cramped study, and took a seat in the only chair. Draco followed mutely behind, leaning against the wall a few feet from him.

"Do you know she's been married twice Draco?"

"I've heard," he said dryly, choosing to avoid any details on the matter that he could.

He looked up at the young man, his silver eyes emotionless. "What do you plan to do with my daughter?"

Draco watched the elder man's expression. Behind the hard exterior he looked pained, like he expected Draco to run away with Hermione the moment they were out the front door. He couldn't help but both respect and resent the man. He loved his daughter so much, and although he looked close to hysterical by now he was at least holding a decent conversation with him. He decided it took an extreme amount of control to do that.

He also decided he hated the man, for having the compassion that his own father could never show towards anyone.

"I plan to treat her well, and see where the relationship goes. I haven't been with her long, I've hardly considered the future. Why rush things?" _I'm lying through my teeth._

"Don't hurt my little girl," he said, holding Draco's gaze much like he had over brunch. "She's been through enough hurt with men."

"I can imagine," Draco responded, watching him open his mouth to respond before snapping it shut. "Sir," he said again, inwardly slapping himself. He might have been raised to be well behaved, but sometimes it simply killed him. "I promise you, I will not hurt your daughter in any way."

"I sincerely hope so," he sighed, standing. "Although your manner is more..._respectful _and proper then those men in her past, don't expect a single day will change my opinion on you."

"I never expected it."

"Very good. I'll be watching you Mr. Malfoy, to ensure my little girl doesn't get hurt again."

_You're rather paranoid aren't you? _Draco nodded his head once, before turning on his heel and departing the room.

* * *

><p>"I'm sure he was just being over protective."<p>

"That doesn't change the fact that your father is practically accusing me of being a bad person _already_ and he just met me today."

Hermione waved her hand, pulling on her new pajama top from Christmas. "i'll make sure to not leave you with the scary man next time ok?"

Draco groaned. "And when is 'next time'?"

"A few weeks, I'm not sure yet."

He yawned. "Thank god. You're charming to a degree Hermione, but I get the feeling your father will never fall for my own charm." And to this, she laughed.

* * *

><p>Tuesday Draco was up by nine, and preparing to leave by eleven when he woke Hermione around ten-thirty.<p>

"Well I don't want to stay here by myself all day."

Draco frowned. "And where should I take you? I'm not dropping you off with any of those Weasley's."

"I doubted you would. Actually, I was hoping Blaise would look for some company. I have gotten used to him after all. Maybe he doesn't completely hate me, and will be alright with going out to lunch?'

Draco laughed. "I have pulled you from your friends haven't I? If you desire Blaise's...company then you can ring him yourself."

"Then I will."

Draco handed his phone to her. _Blaise is going to be horrified that he left such a mark on Hermione. I think the look on his face will be my early morning joy._

* * *

><p>After watching Blaise stare at Draco in horror for several minutes before his departure, the confused Wizard was dragging Hermione through Hogsmeade for lunch. She was surprised, given that this was Blaise, and that she had slept through breakfast.<p>

"Where would you prefer to eat," he asked, wandering down the frozen streets, people dashing every which way, now preparing for the new year which was Friday.

"The Three Broomsticks," Hermione said quickly, remembering several interesting meals there with the Weasley's and Harry, before things had changed.

"Are you sure," Blaise said with a wrinkle of his nose, having never been very fond of the restaurant himself.

"Yes," Hermione said pleasantly, not catching Blaise's obvious dislike. He made a face and followed her inside.

It was crowded and on the brink of exploding inside, but the two found a seat that had been recently vacated and stole it before anyone else could. Blaise picked up the menu and studied it, noticing Hermione did no such thing and instead peered around the establishment.

"Aren't you going to pick something?"

"I know what I want," she said simply. "I get the same thing every time I come."

He shrugged, and not a moment later a waitress appeared, looking rather happy and hot, with red cheeks and an apron. "What'll it be?"

Blaise gave his menu one final look as Hermione ordered. "Ham soup and Butterbeer."

She jolted the order down and looked over at Blaise. "And you?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Shepherd's Pie and Firewhiskey."

"Alright, that'll be out for you soon." The woman turned and left, leaving Blaise to study the establishment.

"Hermione, did I just order muggle food?"

She laughed. "Yes Blaise, you did."

"Then whatever is a Shepherd's Pie?"

"You've never had Shepherd's Pie!"

He shrugged. "I've only been in here once and it was so Nott could get a Butterbeer."

"Shepherd's pie isn't that uncommon."

He smirked. "Then ask Draco, he's probably never had it either! Remember Hermione, we're Purebloods and as children were expected to never come to an establishment like this. However common Shepherd's Pie maybe, it wasn't something that we ever ate."

She shook her head, looking away with a bemused smile. The things a rich Pureblood could miss out on! As she studied the place, and Blaise the rest of the suddenly interesting menu, both failed to notice the approaching figure until she nearly slapped Hermione.

"You leave him alone Mudblood!" Several pairs of eyes turned and stared at the table.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, fighting back the urge to retort to the Mudblood comment like she had done as a child and chose to ignore it, while trying to remember exactly who this girl was. "Blaise? Oh no, you have it all wrong, we're just-"

"Not Blaise," the girl snapped, her pretty face losing its attractiveness as she sneered. "Draco!"

"Astoria," Blaise interjected, grabbing one of the girls wrists gently and taking it off the table, "leave her alone. This is hardly worth a fight."

She turned and glared at him. "Stay out of this Zabini!"

Hermione tilted her head and glared at the girl. "Why do you care if I'm involved with him? I haven't seen you around."

The girls complexion never changed color, but her eyes grew dark. "Just stay away from him you filthy excuse for a human. There's no reason for nay of us to be _tainting _our blood."

Hermione stood from the table, but Blaise, who was keeping his temper rather controlled, stood as well and dropped some money onto the table. "Come along Hemrione. Although I'm sure you can take Astoria, it would be a shame to have to deal with her as well as her sister." He pushed past the raven haired girl and grabbed Hermione's arm. "Come on."

The two departed from the establishment without their lunch, drawing many peculiar looks as they left. Hermione could hear Astoria's voice as they left, and it took Blaise's arm clamping down on her own and dragging her forwards to stop her from turning around and punching the girl much like she had punched Draco third year.

"The nerve," she sniffed as he drug her down the street.

"Ignore Astoria, she's always been possessive of Draco."

Hermione gave him a rather shocked look. "Always? Blaise! Why didn't anyone ever tell me that?"

He shrugged. "Astoria has hardly ever been involved in Draco's life. Its one of those delusions people often have towards others. I wouldn't worry."

"She called me a Mudblood."

He glanced at her. "Didn't Draco spend years calling you that? I fail to see the difference."

"I suppose there is none," she muttered.

"At least tell Draco about today, alright? I'm sure he'll handle it."

"I don't want Draco handling every single one of my problems!"

Blaise shrugged again as they reached the Floo network. "I still think its best to tell him."

* * *

><p>Draco did not immediately react to Hermione's explanation of the afternoon, but instead chose to wait until the witch was asleep in his bed before dialing a number he had had to ask Blaise for.<p>

"Its nearly midnight Draco, what could you possibly want?"

"Nice to talk to you too, Greengrass."

"Well, don't get snappy. It _is _late Draco."

Daphne Greengrass was nothing if not annoying. Being Pansy's best friend had that affect. However, her obvious irritation did not bother Draco in the least.

"Keep better eye on that whore you refer to as a sister."

Daphne gasped, and Draco inwardly groaned at the over dramatic reaction. "Although Astoria isn't the most pleasant person to speak with lately-"

"-ever-"

"-that doesn't make her cheap!"

He rolled his eyes. "Honestly I could care less how much your sister wishes to sell herself for. Just make it very clear to her that I'm _not _interested and she can stop bothering my _girlfriend _now."

"She bothered Granger? Hmm, I had thought after her failure to come to the Christmas Eve Ball her hopes would diminish. You crushed her you know."

"Apparently not hard enough."

"Don't be so cruel Draco, she's fancied you for years."

"Well, its time for her crush to end. As I have clearly stated to all of you Greengrass' in the past, I'm completely uninterested in your youngest."

"Fine," Daphne said, sounding bored. "I will carry the message on, but don't expect some harsh words to deter her."

"I would never be that idiotic," he grumbled, hanging up the phone and returning to his room where Hermione still remained asleep. He sighed, getting in beside her again and holding her close.

Astoria Greengrass could be such a nuisance when she wanted to be.

* * *

><p>Wednesday the 29 brought with it an easiness to the apartment that had been absent the past two days due to the unwanted drama. That morning there was nowhere to be, no one to go see, and the two relaxed in leisure through the better part of the morning into late afternoon.<p>

At some point Draco looked up to notice Hermione wandering around the living room and kitchen in wonder. "I promise you Hermione," he said, setting aside a book, "the apartment hasn't changed since yesterday." It was true, even the Christmas decorations Draco had put up at the last minute still sat about.

"Of course not," Hermione said, coming to sit beside him "It just seems extremely small...for a Malfoy I mean."

He smirked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Just because its not as grand as the Manor doesn't make it small."

"It's smaller then even my parents house."

"Fine then, its small."

She rested her head against his shoulder, kissing his neck lightly as she lowered her head to it. "Why don't you use the Manor? I mean, its historic, and quite a bit larger then this flat. Plus, you wouldn't have to be surrounded by..._muggles_." She drew out the last word, knowing how he hated non-magical beings and still unsure how she dealt with the very people surrounding his flat.

He crinkled his nose. "I have no use for that place anymore." There was an angry, suppressed tone to his voice that made Hermione pull back long enough to stare at him.

"I thought-"

"You thought wrong," he snapped, eyes glaring at her. "I have nothing left for me there, and I don't plan to waste away my life in that place like my parents did."

She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly snapped it shut. He looked rather upset about the current topic. "Fine, so you hate the Manor." _Just like me. _"But may I ask one question?"

"I suppose."

"What will happen to the Manor now that you no longer live there?"

"Oh its still in damn near perfect condition. There are elves there, whom are bound to the Manor and Malfoy family who will remain to keep the place in tact so long as I keep paying the rent on the place. When I stop, the place will be foreclosed and the elves will diminish, either out of existence or to another source of work."

Hermione was about to say that with the lack of humans there, the elves shouldn't have to stay in the first place, but decided against it. She wanted to question him further, but got the feeling that he was done sharing.

She kissed his jaw. "You look so tense."

He chuckled. "My, you've gotten good at telling my moods haven't you."

"I've always been able to, although these days you have far more emotions then I've ever seen before."

"Hmm, and what do you recommend I do about all this tenseness Miss Granger?" He breathed on her ear and she wiggled against him.

"I have an idea."

* * *

><p>There was no more talk about Malfoy Manor.<p>

Thursday Draco drug Hermione out to lunch at a muggle restaurant of all places. He looked rather perplexed staring at his menu, and ordered the least odd sounding thing he could before folding his arms and leaning back in his chair with ease. Hermione raised her eyebrows at him.

"Tell me what you really wanted to do with your life."

"What do you mean?"

He rolled his eyes. "Come on Granger, we both know you desire more then to be a librarian. Just because Flint held you back doesn't mean your stuck forever."

She nodded once, sipping her tea before speaking. "I always wanted to be a teacher at Hogwarts. I wanted to start with that, and work myself up to Headmistress."

"Ambitious. What do you want to teach?"

"Arithmancy or the Study of Ancient Ruins. Both will be open for next school year, and I've thought about applying for the jobs. McGonagall has said she'd always support me if I ever decided to move beyond the library. And now that I'm not chained to an uncaring husband, I'd very much like to apply."

"You should then. You'd make an excellent teacher." He gulped down half of his drink before continuing. "That's something I can never see myself doing."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Patience Granger. Its something I've never much possessed, and working with an enormous amount of half brained children five days a week doesn't sound like fun to me."

"Then what do you see yourself doing in the future?"

He clicked his tongue. "Trying to dig my family's name out of the whole my father threw it into. I'll probably end up taking over his business, unless I find people to do most of the work at the office and only deal with the paperwork that's necessary for me to oversee, as I've been doing for the past two years. Being an Auror was good for a while, but saving people really isn't me."

"You saved me," she said with a small smile.

"Yes well...that was you."

"Well, if you have people working at the business your father once owned...whatever that was, then there is no need for you to take over and you can do something you enjoy. Defense Against the Dark Art's will be open next year, unless Lupin excepts his position back-"

"I highly doubt they will let a former Death Eater teach Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Hermione paused. She hadn't much focused on the fact Draco once worked beside Voldemort for a while now, and the reminder that the tattoo was forever etched onto his skin. Now that she thought about it though...Hermione didn't remember seeing the mark on either of Draco's lower arms whenever she saw the skin there...

"Potions will also be available," she continued, focusing on the conversation at hand and forcing the mark into the back of her head. "They're shuffling alot of the teachers around next year."

"Although Potions was indeed my best subject, the thought of teaching still turns my stomach."

"Think about it at least? Its a different career path."

"Fine, if you insist, I'll _consider _it."

* * *

><p>When the two returned home a few hours later, an owl and letter waited patiently for them. Hermione gave the bird treats while Draco read the letter silently, before sending it on its way with a response.<p>

She frowned. "What does it say?"

"We have court-next Friday to be accurate. Look like it could be a long and bloody boring ordeal."

Hermione nodded, looking away from him and out the window. He caught the gesture, and set the notice aside, walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her torso.

"Don't look so scared, if anyone tries anything I'm right there."

"Its not _anyone _I'm concerned about, its-"

"Flint."

She flinched. "Yes."

"Don't be," he muttered into her hair. "I'll never let anything happen to you."

"I know," she replied, relaxing into him and closing her eyes, willing the world to disappear for just a moment.

* * *

><p>Friday Hermione awoke early, finding that Draco was in the shower, and feeling in a rather daring mood she went to join him. She opened the door to a steamy room, and heard the mild chuckle from the shower as she approached.<p>

He drew the curtain back before she could and smirked. "I knew sometime you'd come and greet me in here."

She smiled sweetly. "Yes, it was bound to happen."

Raising an eyebrow he glanced her over. "Although those pajamas are terribly adorable on you, I'd prefer to not have to strip the wet clothing from your body."

She gave him a dazzling smile, before reaching down and pulling the shirt over her head.

* * *

><p>Saturday Draco convinced Hermione to allow Blaise to come over, bringing along the unwanted form of Daphne Greengrass.<p>

Hermione sat in the chair with Draco, on his lap actually while the couple laid out on the couch, the four watching a muggle horror movie that scared Daphne Greengrass to the point of tears, but hardly affected anyone else past a slight jump.

Needless to say, the afternoon was passed in an uncomfortable silence through the movie, Hermione and Daphne never once speaking to each other.

Well, no, that wasn't true. From Hermione's standpoint she did everything in her power to ignore Daphne, who tried several times to strike up mindless girl-conversation that would never interest the girl. At some point, Blaise told her to give up the cause.

As the two were saying goodbye to their guests, Hermione frowning at the other girl, Daphne turned to Draco as Blaise opened the door.

"I passed along your message. Needless to say she wasn't happy."

"What message," Hermione said, glancing at Draco.

"I figured as much, as we've already discussed. Just make sure she understands I don't take kindly to her bothering my girlfriend like she did." Hermione was now glaring at him.

"As I have already done, but fine, I'll try again if you insist." She gave Hermione a faint smile that wasn't returned and walked out the door to apparate home.

"Draco!"

"Yes?" He was walking back to the couch, sitting down and beckoning her to follow. She stood next to him, arms folded across her chest.

"Was all that about Astoria? I told you to not worry about her."

"Well, then don't worry about that. I'm just making sure its completely clear to her that I have no desire to ever be with her again."

"Again? This is an ex of yours!" Hermione's eyes were large now, and Draco got the feeling if she didn't calm down soon he'd have a ranting idiot to deal with.

"Are you jealous?"

She let out a harsh laugh, and he smirked, knowing his assumption was right. "Hardly!"

"Of course not...well, to set matters straight, it was a fluke thing in our sixth year to get Daphne off my back. She kept complaining about Astoria babbling about me and there was an exchange of money for me to go out with her for a few days. It was a mistake really. The moment I dumped her she was determined that I was going to come back to her. Deranged really."

"You played with a teenage girls feelings like that? No wonder she's still waiting for you! You were her teenage crush."

He rolled his eyes. "Which is exactly why she needs to get over it."

"Everyone has a crush that they can't get over...except maybe you, by the look your giving me."

It was true. He had one eyebrow raised, and an expression that said he hadn't the faintest idea what she was talking about. Obviously, Draco had not been an average teenager by any means.

"Nevermind. But Draco, you should have let her down easier, but with more...carefully chosen words."

"This from the person who just said 'more carefully chosen words'."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "You know what I mean. If you had just made it clear the first time none of this would be a problem."

"So I should call her and explain it-"

"No!" The jealousy in her voice was obvious, and as Draco smirked she took a moment to try and remove it before she spoke again. Let's just see if your prior...attempt to fix this works first."

He nodded. "That sounds like a lovely idea." He snapped his arm out as he finished speaking to grab her wrist. "Now, I think I'd like to see those lips doing something else..."

* * *

><p>Sunday morning passed by slowly, and Draco found himself asleep on the couch before ten hit.<p>

By two, Hermione was shaking his arm. "Draco?"

"Hmm?"

"I've decided something."

"Hmm?"

She frowned. "Shouldn't you be awake at least?"

He huffed and sat up, having gotten very little sleep the previous night as he was preoccupied with Hermione which resulted in his tiredness today. He yawned and finally looked up at her. "Yes?"

"I've decided to return to Hogwarts as the librarian for the remainder of the year."

He raised an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to be a teacher."

"I do, but they don't have a librarian to finish off the school year. With Madame Pince having retired, and my substitute having done her share, I agreed to return on Thursday when McGonagall called here."

He yawned again, unable to help himself. "That's what that was?" He vaguely recalled the phone call Hermione got that day when they returned home, but she had just said it was work and he hadn't thought about it until now. He frowned before she could speak. "That means you'll be gone five days a week..."

"Yes, although I do have a Floo network, and if this apartment had one I could return here each night-"

"Of course," he interrupted, standing and extending his arm. "If you'll lend me your wand for a bit, I can set one up. Trust me, I know how complicated it is, but I can also do it after the practice I've had."

She handed him the wand, needing to move on. "I'll also be applying for those two teacher jobs."

"Very good. Its time you do something for yourself."

"I'll also be writing up the paperwork for you to apply for the Potions position."

He paused, having been about to begin when she brought this up. "There's no need for that."

"Of course there is! If you change your mind before the meeting, then McGonagall can continue searching for a teacher. It gives you time to think on it, and if you decide to go for it you're already signed up to apply."

He rolled his eyes. "You think too much."

"At least let me submit the papers. I'd assume you defiantly still have a couple weeks to consider it."

"As I said, go ahead and do that, but it doesn't mean I'll be taking the job. I'm quite comfortable here filling out papers for the company when needed."

"I haven't seen you work on any papers since I came here."

He shrugged. "You're not constantly around me. I take care of them during whatever spare moments I have found during the past few moments. It wasn't terribly hard."

She raised an eyebrow. "Alright, but I'll still turn it in."

"Whatever."

"And one other thing."

"Hmm?"

"I return tomorrow."

* * *

><p>Draco laid down beside her in bed, his eyes heavy as he looked at her. She lay beside him, facing him, eyes closed as she tried to fall asleep.<p>

"Hermione?"

"Yes?"

He reached out and gently touched the necklace, making her eyes fly open. She stared into his liquid silver ones, which held nothing but seriousness.

"If _anything _happens to you, anyone messes with you, _anything_, touch it. I'll come instantly, I swear."

"Draco-"

"No Hermione, I'm serious. I'm not taking any chances. You have someone fucking with you, or you feel uneasy...anything of the sort, grab the charm and I'll come to you."

"I know Draco, but its Hogwarts. I'll be okay."

"Hogwarts has proven to be unsafe in the past...I would know."

She gave him a sad smile. "Then don't focus on that so much. Its the past."

"The past makes you who you are."

They fell silent. Draco removed his hand from the necklace and relaxed, squeezing her hand and closing his eyes. They were silent for a moment.

She reached up and his eyes flashed open when her fingers curled around the pendant. "That's not a toy you know."

"I know. Draco?"

"Yes?"

She pursed her lips in the dark and moved closer to him. "Will you tell me about the necklace now?"

He chuckled. "Not now my sweet." Kissing her forehead he laid his head back. "Another time, another day."

* * *

><p>Monday morning Hermione stood in front of the newly constructed Floo network, checking her bag to be sure she had everything that she would need for the day. Draco sat behind her on the couch, smirking as her skirt rode up a bit in her movements.<p>

"I'm glad you stand behind a desk all day."

She glanced up and pushed her hair back. "Why's that?"

"With all those older students watching you wander around in that skirt...I'd have to spend the entire day at Hogwarts if you were a teacher."

She shook her head. "I'll make sure to not go up to McGonagall's until everyone is busy."

He nodded in approval and then walked up to her. "You're going to be late."

She almost snorted. "I'm never late."

He shrugged, pulling her in close and kissing her deeply, his tongue probing inside her mouth. She sank into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck for a moment.

He pulled back chuckling. "I'll see you tonight."

"Of course." She stepped back and grabbed her bag, stepping into the fireplace and picking up some powder, announcing her destination and throwing it down, disappearing into the flames.

* * *

><p>Draco awoke some time later to the sound of insistent knocking on the door. Groaning, he stood and walked to the door, inwardly slapping himself as he saw who it was.<p>

"Draco! I know your in there!"

He rubbed the top of his nose. "Go away Pansy."

"Open the door Draco! We need to talk!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I searched for the names of Hermione's parents, but couldn't exactly find any, much less find any that people agreed on. If you know them, or the most common names used, please let me know or I'll just continue referring to them as Mr. and Mrs. Granger :) Review guys! I love you!**

**Had Been: **I'm glad to hear it! I love keeping my readers on their toes :)

**mysexylover: **That's good! Another one? Hmm...I don't know if I can fir it in, but we'll see. And thank you!

**Jelisha Baby 22: **An annoying review? Oh dear!

**The Butterfly Effect: **Thanks!

**Amber: **There will be a lighter heart in this, and I'll certainly try to keep it.

**Alex: **Disregarding whatever you said, I'd like to point out your immature review does not stand out against 200, and comes across more as a childish antic because you dislike my ending. Keep your opinion however much you want, but let me point out that if you had ACTUALLY hated the first part of this story, you would have told me in chapter one and not have wasted the time to read all the way through and THEN bash me. And I'm the one who needs to grow up?


	2. Week 11

**Thanks to my beta rowanoak5! And any editing mistakes you see below are additional sentences added last minute (or suggested to me) before the update and I didn't have time to get another look-over done. Love you rowanoak5!**

**40 reviews for one chapter? The most I've ever had! Astounding you guys, keep it up because now they'll be grammatically correct!**

**Week 11**

* * *

><p>Draco opened the door and raised an eyebrow. It seemed as if Pansy was visiting more frequently of late, but he was certain that she was smart enough not to try what she had last time. Surely she couldn't expect their fuck-buddy arrangement to still be in place. 'What?'"<p>

Pansy leaned against the doorframe. "Well, walk in. We're going to talk."

"About? I don't like to waste my time you know."

"Oh I definitely know Draco. However, I was forced to come by and make this lame attempt, and until I do I can't go shopping."

"Oh, such a shame."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, make this easy. The faster we blow past this topic the faster we can go on with our day."

He stepped back and let her in, glaring at her. Of _course _she was here about that. He shut the door loudly behind her.

Pansy sat on the arm of the couch. "Did you really have to put my name down for that court meeting? I was barely involved."

This time he rolled his eyes. "We both know you were using Marcus for jealousy purposes, first off, and you helped him get back up and continue. Now, stop delaying and get onto what you came here for."

"Oh Draco, whatever happened to your manners?"

"They disappeared when you walked in to talk about this."

She frowned. "Just let her down gently."

"Why does everyone keep saying that? I'll break the god girl's goddamn face if she calls Hermione a _Mudblood _again."

Pansy blinked. Draco may have a temper, but she couldn't recall a time when he had physically hurt a female. _Temper temper Malfoy._ "She called her a Mudblood? I don't think I've ever heard Astoria call anyone a Mudblood."

He shrugged. "I don't care about everyone else. She went after Hermione and that's personal. She stepped over the line which means I'm not required to be nice to her."

"What line?"

"Boundaries. When I broke up with her I meant _permanently_, and without the chance of seconds."

Pansy nodded. "I know, and before you call her screaming, so does Daphne. However, Astoria is nothing if not persistent."

"I know...that's the fucking issue."

Pansy smirked. "Astoria's going to be heartbroken."

"You look overjoyed," he replied, bored. As far as he was concerned Astoria could be broken up about whatever she chose, so long as she stopped being an annoying nuisance to him.

She shrugged and walked back to the door. "She'll at least stop... if she hates you."

"Or she'll talk about me more." He mirrored the smirk she had had a minute ago.

"God I hope not," Pansy said as she opened the door.

"Don't you do the same thing about Potter?"

"Shut up," she snapped, slapping him lightly on the arm, "or I'll make you sound a lot harsher when I tell Astoria what happened. I swear, even at 19, she's still like a 13 year old girl."

"Well that must be a bitch."

She grinned wickedly. "It is. I'll see you around Draco."

"Bye Pans."

* * *

><p>Hermione returned home around seven when dinner would be served, saying McGonagall had gotten the head boy and girl to cover the library after dinner from now on so she could come home. Draco hugged her, pulling her into a long deep kiss.<p>

"What was that for," she asked, when they finally pulled apart.

He smirked. "Just enjoying the girl I chose."

* * *

><p>Tuesday morning, Draco bid Hermione farewell as she made her way to Hogwarts. He then proceeded wasted an hour smoking cigarettes and watching a very interesting movie, before he departed for his visit with the Minister, choosing the ease of the Floo network instead of having to take the long muggle route.<p>

The Minister sat behind his desk, reading over papers when Draco walked in.

"Mr. Malfoy, I had thought Lucius and Narcissa would have raised you with better manners."

"They did, however, I am not obliged to abide by the doors to your office. You have handicapped me lately." He glanced at the Minister expectantly. "My wand? I'd like to finish this quickly, so I can get back home."

The man smiled up at him. "Mr. Malfoy, you seem to have your magic under control. When faced with an opponent at the Ball you chose legal spells that caused minimal harm and controlled your magic. Aside from your...physical attack on Marcus Flint you were perfectly in check."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "So I came all the way here to be told I could've stayed home? I thought this was to return to me my magic."

The Minister beckoned to the chair in front of him that Draco did not take. "Mr. Malfoy, your magic _is _in check. If not for the appointed time by the court officials last year I would be handing your wand off to you at this moment. However, we have to wait for that day to arrive. Since you have proven yourself, you need not return here for several weeks until February 8, when your suspension is finished, as was originally decided."

Draco nodded. "Then I may leave?"

The Minister nodded, hardly expecting an excited reaction from the young man. "Of course. I will see you in a month."

"Of course," Draco replied, already on his way to the door.

* * *

><p>Tuesday night passed in a blur of skin and moans. When Hermione woke up Wednesday morning to get ready, she couldn't help but smile a bit; she was rather sore.<p>

Draco himself got ready around ten thirty, having planned to have lunch with Theo and Blaise at noon.

The snow was still thick as he walked down the muggle street, noticing that the spot Theo had picked was near the bookstore he had taken Hermione to not long ago. Upon walking in, he noticed the place was rather empty and that Theo and Blaise had taken over a booth that could seat eight. He slid in and shed his coat.

"We were beginning to wonder if you'd gotten distracted snogging Granger," Blaise said, taking a sip of a whiskey bottle in front of him.

"That would be rather impossible, considering she returned to her job as the librarian at Hogwarts this week. She's strangely determined to finish it until the end of the year, and enroll as a teacher for next."

"Teaching what," Theo asked, his eye on the male waiter whom came over and asked Draco what he wanted to drink, to which he responded promptly that he would like a whiskey.

"Arithmancy or Ancient Ruins, and Theo, please keep your bisexual glances to yourself." Theo frowned for a moment at Draco's jab, until he broke into a casual, uncharacteristic smile that few got the pleasure to see and punched him lightly in the arm. Theo rolled his eyes, an amused smile on his face.

"Sounds like Granger," Blaise said, raising an eyebrow at the two. Sometimes Blaise saw Draco's jabs at Theo as offensive, but the two seemed to have a mutual understanding between each other that it was only for laughs. _Strange. I think my patience would begin to wear thin if I were Theo...but then again, I'm not._

"Yeah, except that she believes I'd make a good Potions Professor."

Theo chuckled. "Although you excelled in Potions, I can hardly see you having the patience to teach children, especially those first years."

"Exactly," Draco said, taking the drink from the waiter and setting it on the table.

"You know we didn't ask you here though to talk about yourself or Granger," Blaise said again, glancing at a very attractive brunette across the room. "Although, it seems unavoidable at this point."

"No, I have a feeling what this meeting entails."

Blaise sighed, looking away from the beauty across from him. "Your deadline's fast approaching Draco, yet you act as if you still have time."

"I can't just rush things, Granger isn't that way. She's been living with me almost two months and I've only recently convinced her that I want her for more then sex."

"Perhaps it isn't Hermione then," Theo said thoughtfully, sipping at his tea. "She is difficult, that one."

"Yes but, she actually makes me excited about getting up in the morning and facing the world. I haven't felt like that in a long time."

Theo nodded thoughtfully again, but it was Blaise who spoke up. "Does it even matter? She's a Mud-a muggle born," he said, quickly correctly himself as Draco glared in his direction, "and that could terminate the contract all together."

"Its not a very specific contract; my father made it to ensure he got a heir when I was young, not whether I married into the right kind of blood or not. Back then, it was a given."

"And now it's a choice." Theo drank the rest of whatever he had. "But what if it does terminate the contract? You could lose all of your inheritance from your parents."

"Yes," Draco said, downing the rest of his drink and then raising his hand for another glass. "But I'm beginning to realize that I can't hold the money up to compare to her. You know, I haven't checked in on my father's business in months? Not since she came around. I've gotten plenty of phone calls demanding my presence to sign papers and such, I just haven't gotten around to do it. It was my family's corporation, not mine. And with where the Malfoy name stands now, it's almost an embarrassment to carry on the work my father had done."

"Not your name," Blaise corrected, "just the line of work your father pursued. Taking on the role of a Death Eater killed your family's business from that moment on. No one trusts people who worked alongside you-know-who anymore."

"Exactly." Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I still have to try to meet the deadline though. I've wasted enough years contemplating it. I could've had someone fix all this a long time ago if I weren't so picky, but I am what I am, and I _want _Granger."

Theo nodded, pushing the empty cup away. "Then you have a lot of work to do before the time comes."

Draco nodded, drinking the rest of his whiskey in silence.

* * *

><p>Hermione returned home later that night, a huge smile spread wide on her face. "Guess what?" She plopped onto the couch beside him, folding her legs under her and leaning over. He vaguely wished her top were lower.<p>

"Look up," she said with a smile.

"Why? I rather enjoy my view...although it would be nicer if I could see just a bit of your breasts..."

She shook her head and jerked his head up to meet her eyes. "My eyes are up here," she said with another smile. "Aren't you curious about what I have?" She waved a note at him.

He shrugged. "Sure. What do you have there?"

Her face broke into a grin. "A note from McGonagall, she wants to meet with you in two weeks about the Potions job-"

"Just two weeks? I would've thought her to wait until May."

Hermione nodded, carrying on with her talk. "Yes, but this gives you time to look through lesson books and set up a plan next year for your first year of teaching if you're accepted."

He rolled his eyes. "You're almost more excited about this then me."

"I am! I think it would be rather cool if you taught potions...it was your best subject at school after all."

He raised an eyebrow. "Taunting me? I will remind you I was the smartest male at Hogwarts."

She grinned wider. "And the second brightest student of our year."

"How dare you," he mocked, leaning over her. "My intelligence is offended."

"Aw, well I'm _sure _your ego is intact."

He smirked. "Very true." He stood up quickly, catching her off guard and grabbed her in his arms, dragging her towards the bedroom. "I'll have to just _repay _you for that evil blow."

* * *

><p>Hermione was sitting at her desk in the library on Thursday when an owl swooped through the window, dropping a bouquet of flowers onto her desk and disappearing. She frowned, standing and walking to the flowers, flipping the card over that was tied to them:<p>

_Hermione,_

_For ravishing you four times last night and making you late for work, I decided I could make the small gesture of sending you flowers. How about dinner Saturday night, to make up for making you that horrible twenty minutes late?_

_-Draco_

She smiled at the card, her thoughts drifting back to the previous night and how much she didn't regret about it. Draco was marvelous in bed (if that counted, considering her lack of experience) and whenever he came after her she didn't feel bad about it. Having Draco Malfoy lust after you was no small ordeal.

Being late hadn't been as bad as she would have guessed either. No one had been around to notice, and she had quietly snuck in to begin working.

A student came up to the front desk and she looked up. "Can I help you?" It was a fourth or fifth year, judging by the boy's height, and he was looking at her curiously.

He leaned forward over the table towards her and her work, his eyes bright. "I heard you and Draco Malfoy are together."

She looked closely at the student before her. "Are you Pansy's brother?" She noticed the faint distinction of a pug like face on the boy, and he broke into a large frown.

"No," he snapped, "I'm some distant family Her-"

"Miss Granger," she interrupted, reminding the boy of the required titles.

He shrugged. "I just wanted to know if it's real."

Hermione wrinkled her nose. _Real? _"What do you mean if it's real?"

"I read in Witch Weekly over my sister's shoulder that you were out with some Zabini boy the other day. Was Draco just there to help you in your time of need?"

"My time of _need_?" Her face was heated.

"Yeah. At the Ball. Everyone's read about that fight, and how he defended you. Isabel rambled on about how she hoped someone would protect her one day-"

"Isabel?"

"My sister. If you saw her you would've never asked the stupid Pansy comment."

"Oh." She didn't really know what to say to that. "I'll assure you..."

"Derek."

"Derek, that there is nothing between Mr. Zabini and me. We were just out to lunch so I wouldn't be bored, nothing more. D-Mr. Malfoy knew and all." She decided if she continued to refer to Blaise in proper terms, it would probably be best to talk about Draco in the same manor.

"What about the Greengrass girl though," he continued, unconcerned by her irritated look and producing a copy of the magazine. It was certainly something a girl had purchased, with a heart or two around the picture of Draco and a bit of an ex through her. She bit the inside of her cheek so she didn't say anything, but her eyes flared at the mention of Astoria.

"Let me see that," she said, taking the magazine from him.

"Greengrass is in the bottom, there's a picture of the three of you."

She looked at the bottom and instantly picked it out, beneath the headline reading, _"Princess of Light and The Dark Prince, Together at Last?" _She sniffed at the headline. This was obviously some of Rita Skeeter's work. Her gaze fell down to the picture, of Blaise, herself and Astoria around the table.

_A new love triangle? Hermione Granger, who has had more of her share of rich or famous wizards, may have already departed from devilishly handsome Draco Malfoy to spend more time focusing on his charming friend, Blaise Zabini, who was recently seen at the Christmas Eve Ball at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with Daphne Greengrass. Are these two searching to be the next power couple?_

_It is a shame, when so many were falling for the Princess of Light and the Dark Prince together. Yet many are left to wonder if there was any relationship there at all._

_Astoria Greengrass, featured above, was gracious enough to report what happened during her conversation with the two new lovebirds:_

"_Hermione was saying how she was missing Draco Malfoy, how alluring and magnificent he is, while Blaise Zabini appeared to be having his own quarrels with the elder Greengrass." The younger sister says the two hardly go out anymore. Has our new couple bonded over past relations?_

_Now we have only to wonder if the well-known bachelor Draco Malfoy is left open to snap up, or if Miss Astoria will claim his heart._

Hermione pulled out her wand and cast a silent spell, watching the newspaper rip itself into pieces. Derek stared at her, obviously surprised.

"Rita Skeeter," Hermione said hotly, "has never written an honest thing in her life. Don't believe a thing she says-I certainly have nothing more then a mild friendship with Blaise, and I haven't..._lost_ Draco if that's what you're asking. But we've hardly dated long enough to come across problems like those."

He looked thoughtful. "Isabel will be upset her newspaper's been destroyed."

"She should be happy! All that is is a load of rubbish! If she's going to read something have her try the Daily Prophet."

He nodded. "I will, that's what I read." He pulled out another newspaper and held it out of her reach. "This one just says Malfoy watched you at the Ball, and you were seen having lunch with Zabini recently before the Greengrass girl came and made a riot."

Hermione smiled. "At least one of you has half a mind." She glanced up at the clock and frowned disapprovingly. "Get moving now, either your class is missing you severely or you've wasted a good portion of studying time."

Derek raised an eyebrow and turned to go. "Study time? I'll just be heading onto my original location-my common room." He waved behind his head once as he departed the library.

Hermione slumped in her chair. Rita was at it again, and Hermione didn't take lightly to her love life being displayed to all of Wizard England in such a manner. She barely had a relationship started with Draco thus far, and Rita was already making her out to have moved onto Blaise!

Hermione frowned at Astoria's part in the paper. The girl simply didn't give up, and although Hermione could often admire people for their courage and ambition, this was just plain obsession, and she preferred to not have to rip another girl off her boyfriend.

But then, this _was _Draco Malfoy.

_Maybe things would be easier if I had more faith in him..._

* * *

><p>Draco spent the majority of his Thursday staring at the little box he had been keeping in his bedside table drawer. The contents glared up at him, almost mocking him for what he could not hope to accomplish in just a little over a month's time.<p>

If he had started using his plans immediately upon Granger's arrival, he would be closer to his goal at least. Before finding his feelings ran deeper then the physical want for Hermione, he had been suspecting he'd just end up grabbing Pansy and sealing this deal without the need to try. Now however, he didn't _want _Pansy.

He wanted Hermione, simply because he had fallen for her.

But Hermione wasn't a slut, and she wasn't able to be bribed by money like Astoria or Pansy. She wanted a real relationship with someone, and he desired to give it to her. In the time it would take to really make her want to stay with him, it would be too late.

The ring taunted him.

Of course, his friends had had a point. She was a muggle-born, and therefore may not save him at all. But he didn't want her to save him from his father's damned curse. He wanted her to just stay and remain his.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, picking up his firewhiskey-much better then regular whiskey-and sipped it thoughtfully. There was no way he was going to meet this deadline, but once it passed he would no longer have anything to worry about, and could focus solely on himself.

_And Hermione if she'll still have me, after she witnesses the sheer idiocy I live in. _

Still, he had to _try._ Giving up would do no good, and even if he didn't pop the question thus ruining his financial standpoint, he could still begin following the path to winning her.

He groaned, flipping the box shut and throwing it back into the drawer. He would need a two-way plan, and he had the feeling the path he'd end up following was a poor life indeed.

* * *

><p>Thursday night Hermione did not sleep. She rolled over several times, and tried to sleep but her mind remained focused on Draco. He was calm and apparently undisturbed by her movements. At some point in the night she moved closer to him and leaned her forehead into his, staring at his eyelids with sleepy eyes until he awoke the following morning.<p>

"Have you been up all night?"

She nodded, yawning and crawling from bed. "Couldn't sleep."

He watched her get up and wander over to her clothes, throwing whatever she found first onto the bed. He glanced at the clock and noticed it was only six. "We don't have court until nearly eleven you know."

"Yes," she said through a yawn.

He held out an arm and closed his eyes. "Come back to bed, you need real sleep."

"Draco-"

"Ah! You're not going to do anyone any good by falling asleep while being questioned."

She frowned, and slowly made her way back to the bed.

* * *

><p>Hermione sat nervously between Draco and Theo, Blaise to Draco's other side. Harry sat a row down with Ginny beside him, and Ron beside her, trying to constantly look back and getting smacked as a result. Eventually he decided just to look forward.<p>

Krum sat with Pansy Parkinson who continuously looked at Harry's head. Hermione found it strange for someone who had despised the Chosen One for years could be so very fascinated by him, even from a distance. _Ha! You're one to talk Hermione...you're in a relationship with Draco freaking Malfoy for god's sake! _

Minerva and the Minister sat in the middle of the room, behind the witness stand. She found this strange, since the Minister would normally be the judge during court. She wondered if perhaps his involvement made him unfit to decide here. A writer sat next to the unoccupied judge's podium, looking strikingly bored.

Marcus Flint sat in the chair in the middle of the room, his eyes glaring up at Hermione, who leaned against Draco. Despite being magically bound to a chair, and about to take an oath to tell _only the truth_, he looked utterly annoyed. Not even angry like Hermione had often become accustomed to, just irritated.

She gazed around. In the corner Mr. Gilmer stood with a folder in hand, and although Hermione knew they were defending themselves here, due to the _legal _magic spell the Ministry had begun using to access the truth in victims and the accused, she assumed he was only there because he had dealt with the divorce papers. She also noticed that as she looked around, four Aurors had filed into the room, and Harry had left Ron and Ginny to join them on the floor.

A rather large-looking man proceeded into the room from a hallway that could only be reached by people who needed it, and took his seat in the judge's chair. Hermione leaned further into Draco, not unsettled by the man but not ready to listen to her marriage story be vocalized for all to hear either. He wrapped an arm around her.

The man, whose last name was Whales, Hermione noticed with a slight smile, produced a wand and pointed it at a very unhappy looking Flint. "Verum ad aures."

He took his seat, studying his audience in the courtroom that morning before flipping a file on _Marcus Flint _that had been sitting on his podium when he walked in. "Name."

"Marcus Flint."

"Marcus Flint, you've been accused of being a wanted Death Eater, using dark magic to track and hold your then wife away in your home during your marriage, abuse against your spouse, sexually assaulting your estranged wife and recently breaking into her new home."

"Yes," he hissed, unable to stop himself.

Hermione leaned over to Draco. "There should be a lawyer-"

"Do you really think Death Eaters get rights like lawyers? Being one alone is enough to send you to Azkaban and without an alibi or some way of proving you never did anything terribly illegal you can spend a lifetime there."

Hermione nodded, considering asking Draco about his own mark on his lower arm, distorted now after the magic within the tattoo had died with its creator.

"Did you, Mr. Flint, ever sexually harm your wife in any undesired way during your marriage?"

"No...hardly." Hermione flinched. This wasn't a lie, but she felt no urge to be present listening to this. Looking away from her former husband, she met the Headmistresses eyes, and found she could not hold them, not with the curiosity burning there.

"Did you, Mr. Flint, ever force Miss Granger to have intercourse with you?" Hermione thought the judge's use of words were rather harsh, but decided saying 'sex' was no better.

"I never fucked her," he snapped, losing his cool and drawing numerous looks to both himself and a scarlet Gryffindor, now hiding her face behind her hair, staring at the floor.

"Language Mr. Flint," Judge Whales warned, narrowing his eyes. Hermione zoned out as the two continued speaking, thinking back to her time as Marcus's wife, and involuntarily shuddered. Draco noticed and rested an arm around her shoulders, drawing her back into the present.

"Mr. Cunningham," she heard the judge saying, "his left sleeve please?"

Hermione averted her gaze at this again, finding listening to all of this a lot harder then she had wanted to admit. Zoning out seemed like a good route right then...

Hermione knew very well that the mark was there, and that she had gotten married to someone who had not resented the dark lord in any way. Now how would she explain that?

Draco had noticed her continuing discomfort, and leaned over to glare at Nott, who took the hint. He grabbed Hermione's arm and stood, her eyes snapping to meet him.

"Departing I see?" The judge sounded unsurprised, and Hermione's frown deepened. Theo nodded. "Very well, I will have Mr. Malfoy come retrieve you when necessary."

"I-"

"Go on," Draco said, looking up at her. "I'll tell you everything that happens."

She frowned and continued to protest as Theo walked her from the room, into the hallway and back towards the elevators, taking an abrupt right into a sitting room Hermione had never noticed.

"Theo," she said, jerking her arm from his grasp. "Do you mind? I was listening!"

"You already know what happened," he replied, taking a seat on a rather comfortable looking chair. "Besides, Draco instructed myself and Blaise ahead of time to take you out of there if you seemed uncomfortable."

"I'm beginning to think he believes he can protect me from everything," she pouted, refusing to sit. "It's court! Nothing bad was going to happen to me."

"But emotional scars often outlive physical ones."

Hermione's frown deepened. "He's afraid I'm going to burst out in tears!"

"No," Nott said quickly, rubbing his head. "Draco just doesn't think you need to deal with these things anymore. He originally tried to convince the Minister to not make you come here."

"He's that concerned about my reaction?"

"He doesn't want you hurt," Theo replied, standing and walking over to a shelf where the Ministry had supplied books for people who had to use this room. "I expected you to understand that fact by this point."

"I _do_," she replied, watching him. "I just don't want him trying to protect me from _every_ little thing. Ron and Flint hurt me in the past yes, but its not like they'll have the chance to do it again."

"Very true," he replied, picking up a book and smiling at the title. "However," he continued, turning back to her, "telling the judge what happened would mean reliving the events you have already told Draco in the past-"

"When he could use his memory of the event," she breathed, catching on. "There was no reason for me to be here in the first place! _He's _going to take my place and-and, give them the memory? No, he would need a pensieve to do so, and unless the Ministry-"

"They have one," Theo interjected, replacing the book and sitting back down in his chair. "For...cases like this. Honestly Hermione, didn't you use Polyjuice Potion and come in here fifth year disguised as s recorder for court? One would think someone with your head would've noticed those things."

Hermione glared. "I was _late _and Umbridge was down here. I hardly had time to look at anything except the courtroom itself, and I was terrified of being caught."

"Which you were, if I remember the reports correctly."

She rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter! What if I had wanted to be in there and defend myself, not waiting in Draco's shadow for him to do it for me?"

Theo tilted his head. "True, and all three of us expected you to be unhappy. However, would you have really looked the judge in the eye and explain with all that Gryffindor courage how you'd let Flint belittle and abuse you? No Granger, I don't think you would have. You have too much pride to admit to that sort of weakness openly."

"And _what _then Theo, would you have done in my position? How would you have handled it if you were _me_?" Theo inwardly regretted his choice of words as the girl began pacing, throwing her hands up and continuing in her talk. "Would you have gone against someone who had your wand! I tried to get out of there, I really did, but every time I did he just turned back and smacked me back into my place! I don't _have _the physical strength to fight someone like that! I don't have the ability to-"

"Hermione," Theo said from his spot on the chair, his expression emotionless as he spoke. "Please don't continue-if I make you cry Draco _will _kill me."

She stared at him. "I'm not going to cry!"

"Well..." He looked at her face, which had a faint tear sliding down it even as she spoke. "Let's just cut off the conversation here and keep us both safe." Hermione grumbled and sat in a chair opposite Theo, glaring daggers at the unfortunate magazine on the table next to her. Theo watched her for a moment, then moved his eyes away, really wishing he were Blaise at the moment. Blaise, who had the job of sitting in a courtroom and listening, whereas Theo was now trying to control an outraged Hermione. _Zabini could've as least come with me..._

Hermione sighed, ignoring Theo in the other chair. Draco's reason was...kind but she was still her own person and she didn't like being protected from _words_. Flint could call her whatever he wished, but it couldn't hurt her like his actions once had. And besides, Draco had been right there by her side. Anything anyone had tried wouldn't have gotten far, and she had been comfortable enough with his chest to lean against...even if that couldn't have been considered exactly comfortable.

And...he was trying to do what he thought was best. But, protecting her from the world wasn't something she wanted and if he intended on being with her in the future he would have to understand that. She sighed, finally looking over at the boy opposite her.

He wasn't bad looking, she decided with a small smile. Then again, Draco would probably never be long-term friends with anyone ugly. She nearly chuckled at the thought, drawing his attention.

No, Theo certainly wasn't bad looking. It made her wonder why he wasn't really dating anyone, considering he had spent half the night at the Ball away from his date. She found it odd, considering that during school he had often been seen surrounded by all sorts of peers...though not all females. She shook her head.

"Tell me about yourself," she finally said, folding her legs under her and placing her elbows on the arms of the chair.

He frowned. "You go from ranting about not being able to sit in on your own court case to asking about me? That's a rather drastic topic change."

She shrugged, glancing at the clock. "Well, I've spent quite a bit of time with Blaise, having had him as my appointed body guard and all, but I've only seen you for a few times. All I really know is your somehow related to a muggle bookstore owner."

He smiled. "Well, Draco deemed Blaise your 'body guard' as you say, when I explained that I am now running my family jewelry shop and am not often available."

"Jewels," Hermione said, not entirely interested by precious gems like many girls, but nonetheless surprised at finding out what he did for a living. "And that's how you make your income?"

"Quite. We have a large chain of shops throughout Europe, and managing all of them is quite a bit of work. Making deals with companies whom go searching for those gems is another story all together."

Hermione nodded. "Sounds interesting. See? Now I know something about you I didn't."

He nodded, folding his hands and falling back into silence. He preferred silence, not just to Hermione's voice but talking in general. It wasn't that he was anti-social, but visiting those shops for years with squealing women over excited over the rock their man had just purchased kills ones joy towards noise at some point.

"How long do you think the case will take," she asked, trying for another topic.

"Not sure. They have to run through everything Flint has to say, then they'll question Weasley-which is why Krum is here, to explain your condition when he found you after leaving him, if its needed-then they'll go through his sister, Pansy if needed, and then everyone who has spoken will go to a holding room in the back as required while the judge, Potter, some of those Aurors, and the Minister watch Draco's memory of your explanation of the three. I'm guessing McGonagall will leave when this happens, since she only asked to hear the story, and could get a detailed explanation owled to her later since she is 'unable to be away from Hogwarts for long'. If there's further questioning towards anyone, they'll be brought out individually. The judge and the Aurors-who I guess are making up the jury for this case, strangely enough-will decide the fate of everyone. Everyone in there will be punished if they associated in any way."

"Including Ginny and Ron?"

"If Ginny was involved, then yes. And Weasley, well, of course. Domestic violence no matter the form is illegal in both worlds Hermione. You need to stop trying to protect him. Just because he was in a hurt place at the time doesn't mean that he had a right to try to lock you up for selfish reasons."

"Isn't Draco almost doing that?" she muttered.

Theo raised an eyebrow. "Well, do you actually see it that way?"

She pursed her lips. "No, of course not. He's actually trying to help." She thought for a moment. "He's not locking me away for days; I have outlets. I can go to work and go shopping and see my friends...if I ever decide to get in contact with Luna again! Heaven knows I've been avoiding her for a bit." She shook her head, realizing that she was getting off track.

"He bought me...astounding presents for the holidays, did you know?" She continued, remembering the day fondly. "Books upon books, and jewelry pieces I could never afford." Hermione smiled at the memory of her favorite Christmas, and Theo noticed the action. "No, there's no relation between Draco and the other men...I see that."

"Exactly," Theo reasoned, relaxing back into his chair. "So trust him. I doubt he would've had me rip you away from the court room unless he had a very good reason. Memories can be painful, and I believe that's his main reason behind it. Other wise he could've testified for you with you in the room."

Theo noticed her head tilt to the side at his words, and he quickly continued, wanting to get another point in before Hermione took over the conversation again with her...bossy attitude if you will. "Don't get me wrong Granger, I don't think Draco should be _controlling _you in any way. I just think he's trying his best to protect you from the men of your past."

"Yes," she nodded, agreeing. "You're right, Draco _doesn't _control me. I need to make that clear. I can't undo the last several weeks of him having a dominate say, but the danger is over and I think its time he gives me some space. There's no reason at all for me to be _guarded _anymore." She nodded her head at her words, realizing for the first time in many years she was _free _to do what she pleased.

"I'm glad we cleared that up then," he said, considering her words. If his comments caused Draco trouble he'd never hear the end of it. He closed his and tried to relax, deciding that events were going to play out on their own anyways. No use worrying...

Unfortunately for him, his rest only lasted a minute, as Hermione interrupted him shortly with "So, tell me about your family jewels business."

* * *

><p>It was 3:30 by the time Draco and Hermione returned to the flat. She felt strangely lifted after her talk with Theo, finally knowing that Draco could not be her leaning post any longer. As they entered the living room he collapsed onto the couch and she took in his tired appearance.<p>

"Why didn't you allow me to do that myself?" The sooner this got started, the better.

He groaned and collapsed onto the couch. "Because," he said, stifling a yawn, "I figured having you have a breakdown in the courtroom would only cause them to question your sanity."

She frowned. "Just because the memories hurt doesn't mean I'll break out trying every time we talk about it."

"Please," he said, stretching, "you were worrying yourself to death this morning before we even left. I didn't want you stressing in the courtroom, and possibly having a panic attack-don't look at me like that, you've cried over them enough. I just asked Blaise and Theo to help me out if you started to get uncomfortable, that's all."

She considered commenting on this, on his over protection to her, but stopped herself. He was giving her a smile of...love perhaps, if this was being interpreted correctly, and it made her smile back and sit down beside him. "I know, I know. However, you can't take away all my pain forever."

"Actually, you'd be amazed what money can buy."

Hermione hit him lightly in the arm. "You know what I mean! I appreciate your consideration towards my feelings on this issue, I do, but in the future, please also consider that I may like to step forward and deal with things myself."

He frowned. "And if something happens to you?"

"Then you can interfere. Until that time, I would like to take back control of my life."

He rolled his eyes. "Of course...although my aim wasn't to control."

"Of course not." She paused, biting her lip and hoping Draco would speak. When he did not, she flicked him in the temple. "Well, are you going to tell me about court or not?"

"Ah, there's the Hermione I remember," he said, rubbing his head. "It was truly boring Granger. You should count yourself lucky that you didn't have to sit through it all."

"Yes well, what happened?"

He smirked. "I never even had to use my memory of your experiences; all of my evidence was presented by questioning the accused. Flint's going to Azkaban for at least 7 years-perhaps more depending on whether or not anymore evidence is found. Your dear ex Weasel is losing his magic for two months and taking a nice visit to an institution for the insane-"

"But he's not insane," she interrupted. "I mean, he was a bit off, but I'm sure its gotten better."

He laughed. "Hardly. He went into a fit when the questioning about his feelings towards his brother came through. What was his name? Frank? No, Fred! That's it. Anyways, he went into this fit of anger and depression right there in the courtroom, which is probably what got him the title of 'mentally unstable'. Not abusive if that comforts you. He's basically going to a day-care until he gets his act together. I suppose you were right from the beginning, when you mentioned him being depressed."

Hermione frowned. "They think he's that unwell?"

"Lost," Draco corrected, remembering the judge's carefully chosen words. "Lost his way I believe, but if you ask me he's a lost cause. However, there will be a restraining order on him concerning you. He's no longer permitted within 100 feet of you."

"Ron's my friend-"

"_Was,_" he corrected with a hiss, "before he lost his mind. He hasn't been a friend in a long time, has he Hermione?" She didn't reply and looked away.

He sat up and rubbed his nose. "It wasn't meant to be cruel," he muttered, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her back against him. "I promise, I was only trying to make a point."

"You made a point all right," she spat.

He sighed. "I really wasn't trying to be mean, I promise." He tilted his head and bent down, trailing butterfly kisses on her jaw. "Besides, the longer we dwell on my misspoken comment the more time you're going to waste before you hear the rest of it." There was a teasing tone to his voice she couldn't ignore.

"Fine," she said, leaning away so she could sit on her own and face him. "What happened with Ginny and Pansy?"

"Pansy in her typical ignorance never knew about anything. She was conveniently around at the time, and Flint told her I was single, which explains her first appearance at the apartment. At the Ball, she was there as his naive date."

"She didn't know anything?"

"Nothing, your ex played her, which in itself is amusing."

"Draco!"

"What? I can find amusement in things sometimes."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not interested in Pansy, I want to know about Ginny."

"Ah yes, the she-Weasel. Well, she helped Flint get in here to sexually assault you, which is considered aiding and abetting a crime, and as punishment she lost her magic for eight months."

Hermione's jaw fell open slightly. "What! For one instance-"

"That led to a sexual assault."

"Then why was it classified as breaking and entering?"

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"While I was still in the courtroom, the judge said Marcus was charged with breaking and entering, even though you just said Ginny helped him inside."

"Yes, that was before the whole story was known and Ginny was brought forwards. I think the possibility of Potter leaving her after all this snapped her confidence a bit. She didn't have one damn retort-and that girl can certainly usually talk."

"Harry's leaving her?" Hermione couldn't even begin to consider that nightmare.

He shrugged. "That would be for Potter to decide. Although, now that he has evidence that she's been doing all of this, it doesn't look good."

"She did it to keep him from Pansy!"

"Yes, but in the process she stepped on you and hurt her brother."

Hermione looked at him oddly. "How did she do that?"

He chuckled. "She filled his head with the delusion that someday you would come back. I swear, his brother's death may not have been the thing that made him insane after all."

Hermione leaned into the couch, her head falling to the side to rest on his shoulder. "This caused so many problems, didn't it?"

"Perhaps, but if you start trying to blame yourself I'm going to knock some sense into you myself."

She looked up at him. "But-"

"No buts, this was never your fault. You can't control what other people did."

She sighed. "Yes yes, I know."

"Good," he replied with a tired smile. He stood, loosening the tie he'd worn and grabbing her head. "Come on then, let's rest for a bit, I'm beat."

"That's because you actually did something!"

"Are you saying I do nothing," he retorted with a raised eyebrow.

She smirked, copying his signature look and earning herself a confused look. "That's not entirely correct I suppose...you do work out." She kissed him lightly on the lips before standing and heading to the bathroom.

* * *

><p>The rest of Friday passed in a mindless blur, with Draco spending much of it making up for his rejection of her presence during the court session. By the time they fell asleep, Hermione had decided he'd made up for it enough, at least for now.<p>

Saturday was rather boring, until the time came to go out to dinner, and Draco escorted her into the restaurant like the perfect gentlemen he had been brought up to be. Hermione was pleased, by the manners he displayed towards her in public for the first time since the Ball, having been playing with the more sexual side of Draco for a good while now.

The dinner was delicious, and once outside on the street they drew the interest of several reporters, whom came forwards to ask questions. As they approached, Draco leaned in towards Hermione and whispered into her ear, "Give it a moment, and apparate us to the Floo network a few blocks over at the Three Broomsticks."

Before she could ask him what on earth that was supposed to mean, he'd grabbed her face in his soft hands and kissed her daringly on the lips for all to see, any manners he had shown falling out of existence. She nearly forgot his previous words, and found her nerves pushing in. What if she splinched him? After the incident with Ron during the war, apparition worried her.

He pulled back just long enough, lips still faintly pressed against hers to murmur, "_Now _would be appropriate."

And with that, she tested it. They arrived unharmed outside the building, and he smirked at her. "I knew you wouldn't kill me."

She shook her head. "That's going to be all over the paper tomorrow."

"Oh, I'm anticipating it."

* * *

><p>Sunday morning brought just that-a call from Potter asking Hermione about the picture, and saying how much news must have been planned for this to be on the front page of the Daily Prophet, not just Witch Weekly, although the article in that particular magazine was far more insipid.<p>

She huffed. "It _is _surprising Harry. Its not like Malfoys and muggle-borns have ever been known to converse civilly."

"You've been to the Ministry numerous times together."

"Yes, but we never kissed, just like the Ball, even _if _that did make the paper. People are just surprised is all if you ask me. It'll wear down soon."

Harry laughed. "Hardly. This is _you _and Malfoy. Alone you draw a bit of attention, for very different reasons. But together? I wouldn't count on any peace and quiet so long as I was parading around the Wizarding world if I were you."

She sighed. "You think people will make that big a deal?"

"I think they already have."

Hermione gave a soft smile. "He's not all bad you know. He has a lighter side to him, once you actually find it that is."

"True-don't take what I'm saying in the wrong way Hermione, I saw that side of him when he came seeking aid to get you out of harm's way."

"I'm not saying you are-and for the record, I noticed that with great irritation."

Hermione rolled her eyes, noticing Draco appear from the bedroom with a smile. "I think I have to go Harry. My _protector _just showed himself." Draco raised one delicate eyebrow at her and proceeded to the kitchen in search of a drink.

"Ah, that sounds rather fitting at this point. Do be careful though Hermione, about everything. If you two get another picture in the Daily Prophet like that people will begin asking when the wedding is."

Hermione felt a little off put at that-hearing Harry's obvious implication about her past relations and horrible rushed marriages. Of course people were going to think that! But no, for once in a long time Hermione wanted to go slow, and _enjoy _herself during the early stages of a relationship. Oh, how she missed that.

"Well, I can't much control Draco," she replied, as he made his way back into the room with the other eyebrow up now, sitting down beside her with new interest-"but I won't let anything get out of hand. Besides, no matter what we do people will believe what they want."

"Very true. But I best be letting you go Hermione-I have a meeting with Ginny in ten minutes."

"A _meeting_," Hermione asked, completely surprised. "Don't most people call those dates?"

"You cannot date those you do not have relationships with."

Hermione gaped, and Draco reached over and snatched the phone from her hand, finding his way of dragging her from the conversation, so he could talk to her himself. "Potter, whatever strange conversation topics you have come up with have now upset my girlfriend. I feel obliged to interfere and tell you to bugger off."

Harry chuckled, and Hermione reached for the phone. "In another time, another place I might've hexed you for telling me to 'bugger off' and leave her alone with you, however I can at least believe now that you wont harm her. But please-don't _ever _indulge me in details."

"Like I would waste them on you," he replied. "Good day Potter."

"Malfoy."

"Draco," Hermione said as he flipped the phone shut, "I was in the middle of a rather important conversation."

"Concerning what?" He bent and began placing kisses along the skin on her neck. "As it turns out Granger, I had something to discuss with you too."

"Oh?"

"The manner by which you have yet to learn to ride properly."

"Draco!" She pushed him playfully. "That's something I've only tried once-give me another go and I'll have it mastered."

He raised an eyebrow. "Confident hmm?" He bit at her ear, and her hand fell to his thigh. "At least I've been teaching you well."

"You can't take to much credit-I _am _a fast learner."

He chuckled, standing and flipping the girl over his shoulder. "We'll see how fast." On the trip to the bedroom, Hermione forgot about her conversation with Harry, her thoughts falling upon other things.

* * *

><p><strong>Kimm Possible:<strong> Glad to hear it!

**NinjaBearClaw: **Draco does resemble a puppet master a bit doesn't he? I like that comparison! I will defiantly keep writing!

**lulu: **Thanks!

**They Call Me Ginger: **Funky? Hell yeah I'll take funky as a good thing! And thanks!

**Eric: **Yes, I've got the beat reader now (see above) so hopefully that'll all disappear (minus anything I added in last minute).

**(unnamed reviewer): **Those are common indeed!

**Smileyme96: **Cool! I loved all the name ideas!

**(unnamed reviewer 2): **Good to hear!

**Platypus: **Thanks! That's so sweet! It made my day actually when I read it :)


	3. Week 12

**A/N: **I'm really sick this week guys so unless you were an early reviewer I probably didn't message you. I promise, you'll be messaged or have a response to your reviews for this chapter before Week 13 comes out, I just don't have the energy this time. Hope you enjoy anyways!

But as a single shout-out, thank my beta **rowanoak5**! Makes this story so much cleaner :)

* * *

><p><strong>Week 12: January 10-January 16<strong>

* * *

><p>Monday morning Draco awoke like he often did to see Hermione before she left for her day. He hated sending her off, hated the time from the beginning of her day to the end when he had absolutely no idea if she was okay unless she grabbed the necklace- and he didn't exactly want her to do that, as it would indicate that her situation was dire.<p>

But today didn't bring the typical, simple goodbye and chaste kiss between them that had happened the last few times she made her leave.

"I'm going to a meeting with McGonagall today," Hermione stated, pulling on her cloak and picking up her ridiculous bag.

"Please don't tell me it's about me. Really, I think I can handle-"

"Its not," she said with a grin. "I convinced her to meet with me about two positions I've been meaning to apply for. She's going to give me an outline of the jobs before I apply."

He raised an eyebrow. "Planning ahead on how to apply for jobs you probably don't have to lift a finger to get. How very Hermione-like."

She smiled at him, then threw her arms around him for the first passionate kiss they had shared in the morning in a while. He melted against her and locked his hands in her hair for a moment, before she leaned away and looked up at him.

"Please don't make me late again."

He chuckled. "Never."

* * *

><p>Sometime after Hermione had left that morning, Draco found himself staring with hatred at his mobile phone, or more accurately, glowering with hatred at the person he was very much debating calling.<p>

A simple call, a chaste meeting, and he could dash her dreams with some cruel words and cause her world to crumble by bringing that damned little jewelry box with him. He'd even be fine if he made her cry. At least that might mean she'd been hurt enough to realize that he would never be hers. Maybe then she'd stop causing problems.

Of course, that plan could go terribly wrong and ignite her anger further, which would only cause _more _issues, and then he'd have to explain all of this to Hermione, and he was afraid of that. She already didn't like the snappy twat, and he didn't want to try and explain to her why he had been speaking to her.

Then again, it would only get worse if he left his fate in Daphne's hands and Astoria and Hermione crashed together one day...he would very much like to see that fight play out.

Pulling out a cigarette and inhaling deeply, remembering vaguely how Hermione hated the cigarettes, and made a mental note to try and quit...for his own good, _not _for the girl he was hopelessly taken with, of course.

Snuffing out the cigarette, he threw whatever caution he had been considering to the wind and dialed the younger Greengrass' number, having stolen it from Daphne of course, as he certainly didn't have it on hand.

"Hello," said a strained voice, which made Draco think of an arrogant dog-much like Pansy had seemed to him for a while.

"Astoria," he said bluntly, "we need to talk."

"Draco?" She seemed surprised, but certainly not unpleased. "I knew you'd dump the whore! Really I mean-"

"I'd appreciate if you refrained from referring to my girlfriend as such," he snapped, cutting her off sharply. "I'm not making this call to confess feelings for you as none have ever existed."

He could almost hear the pout in her voice as she spoke, "But Draco! A Mudblood-"

"Say one more damn thing about her and I'll hang up."

That shut her up. "Fine then. What do you want?"

"I'd like to meet you, sometime next week preferably since I have prior arrangements this week, so we can have an _exceptionally _important talk."

He nearly vomited at her suppressed squeal from the other side of the phone. "Of course! What day next week Drakie?"

"Please refrain from the use of that pathetic nickname." He thought for a moment as she sighed into the phone at his words. "Wednesday?"

"Its a-"

"If you say date I'm canceling all plans and I'll find another way to deal with this."

"Fine...I'll see you then. Your apartment yes?"

"N-"

"Great, I'll come by sometime that day! Bye Drakie!" The phone clicked off as he tried to finish his apparently futile disagreement with her, groaning as the phone beeped. He flipped it shut, rubbing his temples and thinking longingly of a cigarette.

Making plans with Astoria was supposed to be on purely on his terms. This was _his _set-up to break her heart once and for all. It was a cold-hearted plan, and he smirked lightly as it brought back memories of his former, crueler self.

_Not that I would ever go back to that. It's just always bloody good to know that I can still be a cold-hearted asshole._ He smirked to himself before heading off to get a drink.

* * *

><p>Hermione arrived home that night in an irritated mood, having had to speak to Hogwarts' relatively new Herbology professor, Neville Longbottom, who had somehow damaged a few books he'd borrowed from the library on how best to teach.<p>

She set her things down on the table in an angry huff before being enveloped by two strong pale arms. She glared over her shoulder at a grinning Malfoy. "What's got you in such a good mood then?"

He chuckled, spinning her around to face him. "Nothing," he said blithely, stroking her cheek and earning himself a raised eyebrow. "I'm just happy to be here with you," he said in a very un-Malfoy-like manner, cuddling her closer.

* * *

><p>Tuesday morning Hermione found that Draco seemed too sleepy to even get up to give her a goodbye kiss, and she left for Hogwarts in a huff, muttering about the rudeness of her boyfriend.<p>

She heard fast footsteps behind her as she wandered down the corridor towards the library, and turned to see Neville running towards her looking flustered. She paused in her movement waiting for the teacher to catch up.

"Morning 'Mione."

"Good morning Neville," she said politely, although she was still highly irritated with him over the destruction of those books!

"Have you heard," he asked, still regaining his breath.

"Heard what?" she inquired, stopping in front of the doors to the library and pulling out her key.

"Astoria," he said, taking a deep, lungful of breath. Hermione stopped her actions entirely at the mention of the girl's name, and turned to face Neville with a tilted head as he continued, working extremely hard to keep her face expressionless. "Well Astoria is applying for the Ancient Runes job-"

"What," she snapped, shaking her head. "Astoria didn't pay a bit of attention during that class, _everyone _knew that. She can't be serious about applying for the job!" She smiled to herself, forcing down the unwanted irritation that was trying to surface at the news of the pushy girl trying to take a possible job from her. "Why would she want to work at Hogwarts anyways?"

Neville blushed. "I..."

"Neville," she snapped, frustrated and putting her hands on her hips. "What did you do now?"

"Well Hermione," he said nervously, wringing his hands together, a typical nervous Neville trait. "S-she came by the other day and was real nice...and I...I told her about the jobs you were applying for."

"What! Neville, have you forgotten the Ball entirely?" At her own words, she flinched. Although the Ball had been a doorway she supposed into a new chapter of her life, it wasn't an event she remembered lightly. But then, she didn't remember anything to do with her exes lightly.

"No Hermione, of course not...I just, it didn't seem like a big deal. Besides, you're the smartest witch Hogwarts has probably ever seen. There's no way she'd beat you out."

Hermione narrowed his eyes. "You never know Neville. Persuasive people do have a tendency to get what they want." With that she pushed open the library doors, leaving Neville alone in the corridor outside.

She plopped into her desk and groaned. That girl was showing up quite a bit for never having made an appearance before...

She remembered an event some odd weeks ago, back when she had first arrived at Malfoy's apartment. _Must've been early November, probably mid. _He'd disappeared into the hallway to talk to someone, the day she'd stumbled upon the room...

Had he been upset that day? Seeing Astoria Greengrass would upset anyone, wouldn't it?

She crinkled her nose. She hadn't been focused on Draco then, not really. Just that room, that book, and not being caught.

She sighed and looked out her window. She had nothing to go on about that event, although it was the only thing she could think of that could possibly bring Astoria into the picture. He hadn't told her...but they hadn't exactly been dating then either. He wasn't required to tell her anything he didn't want to.

_Darn._

She sighed, leaning back in her chair. No more time for puzzling, she had books to set in order and a presentation to create that would defy anything Astoria could ever bring to the table.

* * *

><p>"Draco Malfoy."<p>

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy. Would you like to make an appointment to come and put more into your account here at Gringott's?"

Draco frowned. He had no desire to go to his account, he had nothing to _put in. _"No, I'm simply wondering about the amount in there?"

"That's confidential, only an in-person appointment will allow you to access the account. Safety Mr. _Malfoy._"

His frown deepened. "Very well, I'll be by shortly."

"Excellent."

Draco clicked off the link, having no reason to continue speaking to the goblin. Making a personal visit to the bank was not something he wanted on his list for today. He had no desire to touch the riches his deceased mother and imprisoned father had left to him; he just needed to know what was in there to work with. Visiting was going to cut into his day.

He sighed, snatching up his coat and leaving the bedroom, heading towards the newly constructed floo network in the living room to head towards the bank.

* * *

><p>The January air was crisp as Draco made his way out of Gringott's roughly an hour later, a copy of the amount in his vault copied onto a slip of paper. There was plenty there, as he had known, but the total was what he had needed.<p>

He had one more destination before heading to the apartment, and it was not one he was looking forwards to.

He stepped into an alley, out of sight and out of mind as he disappeared from prying eyes. Who in their right mind wanted to be stared at while apparating?

"Malfoy Manor." He felt the familiar, uncomfortable pull above his belly button and felt his body warping awkwardly, his vision blurring as colors shifted for a moment, his path to his home not a terribly long one.

Draco appeared just outside the apparation point he'd become familiar with for years during his childhood and the war, staring at his home in the distance. It was in ruins.

The walls of the once proud mansion were covered in vines, the once lush landscape a wasteland. Even in the distance he could make out large cracks in the upper levels. No care had been given to the place since his mother's death, and it had obviously taken its toll. It would take a lot of magic to fix all of the damage.

Did he want this place fixed?

He shoved his hands into his pockets and glared. How many times had his father tortured him in those dungeons below the main house? How many times had be been cursed by the Dark Lord and his followers for disobeying? How many times could his mother's shrieks be heard down the hall as his father hurt her for disobeying...

How many times had he watched the same battered woman turn back to her husband in absurd adoration attempting to present a happy mask to her son and alleviate his fear, an attempt which always failed.

He hated this place. He hated what had happened there for years, he hated who his father changed, he hated it all.

He couldn't do this today.

He turned away, closing his mind from any harsh memories of his past as he apparated back to his flat. They were memories, and digging it all up now would do him no good.

Especially with Granger in his life.

* * *

><p>Hermione had spent the better part of Tuesday night trying to get Draco to smile and talk to her about what was bothering him, but he remained a stubborn twit who wouldn't budge. She had ended up on her own side of the bed without his body to warm her. She left early the following morning, leaving a note on the counter saying she thought giving him some space would be good, and hoping that he would be more willing to talk after she finished work.<p>

Draco sat on the couch lazily. He had debated going to see Theo at the bookstore earlier, but had decided against it when Cho Chang's voice had entered into his hearing over the telephone and ended their short conversation. No reason to ruin Theo's second date with the girl, was there? Who knew, maybe the bastard would get a bit lucky...

Draco smirked. Oh Theo, constantly flipping between boys and girls, unable to decide which he fancied more and unable to settle his mind long enough to focus on any one person. He had been that way once, flipping from one girl to another nightly, never stopping to consider them as more then fucks. At least Theo was thinking clearer then he ever had.

_Good for him._

Draco groaned, annoyed that he seemingly had done nothing over the last few days, besides bitching at Astoria over the phone for her annoying persistence of course. Their hallway adventure, which had been more like a loud talk, was enough for him, and that had been over a month ago. Couldn't the girl take a hint?

_Apparently not._

His phone rang from the table next to the couch, and he picked it up curiously. The name that was lit up made him queasy.

_Jean and Frank Granger. Fuck! _He wasn't in the mood to be talking to Hermione's parents at the moment, and considered letting it go to voice-mail.

_No, Hermione will just get mad if I ignore her parents, no matter that she knows that they make me uncomfortable._

He sighed, flipping the phone open. "Hello?"

"Oh hello Draco," Jean Granger said kindly. "How are you today?"

"Rather bored actually."

"Oh, well, is Hermione there?"

"No, she's gone to Hogwarts for her shift and wont return until roughly six tonight. Shall I have her call you back?" He sincerely hoped the woman would agree so he could end the call.

"Oh yes, I forgot she was working again. I'm happy she is, it was so unlike Hermione to not be up and doing something."

"Agreed," he drawled, trying to sound interested in their conversation. "She was always into something at school, whether it was schoolwork or something with Po-Harry and...Weasley was questionable however. Those three always seemed to be doing something."

Jean Granger laughed at this, and it caught Draco off-guard. Hermione's mother was _laughing _at his comment? "Yes, she was rather split between responsibilities from the beginning. But, it's never affected her grades, and I've never heard anything from her professors, so what do I have to complain about?"

Draco was dumbfounded. Had his father discovered he was off doing nonsense instead of attending to his studies or work for the Dark Lord, he'd have been in for a howler without a doubt. "I suppose so," he replied dryly, telling himself inside his head that he was most certainly _not _jealous of Hermione's obviously good relationship with her parents.

"Well Draco, so long as you are on the phone, I may as well speak with you about what I would talk to Hermione about anyways. No use bothering you twice...and I'm sure you like having your alone time with her."

His eyes widened. Was Mrs. Granger implying..? "I do enjoy having her to myself," he confessed, but with a smirk. No way was Hermione's mother going to make him uncomfortable at the age of 21.

She chuckled through the phone again. "We'd love to have you two come visit here again. Its lovely to see our daughter-she has hardly had time to in so long, with the past complications and all. And it would be great to have you return as well, and give us another chance to get to know each other better."

Draco raised an eyebrow at her words. "I'm not so sure your husband feels the same way ma'am."

"Oh please! Call me Jean, ma'am makes me sound ancient! And although Frank may not be warm towards you yet, in time he'll come around. You'll have to understand the situation from his perspective Draco."

"I do," he said quickly, hoping to avoid a long explanation. He wasn't entirely comfortable with this phone call in the first place. "It would be difficult, I'm sure."

"Yes," Jean said sadly through the phone. "Well," she continued on, seeming to grow happier as her voice took on a brighter note, "how about next week?"

He cringed. "Two weeks?" Best to hold this off a bit longer.

"Two weeks it is," he heard her reply, although not as happily. "Tell Hermione to phone us more! She is still so distant."

Draco heard the sadness in her voice, and took pity on Hermione's mother. "She'll be more open soon. She's just readjusting if you ask me...I hardly heard anything about you two for the first two months of her life here. I think she's put space between herself and you guys, so it wouldn't hurt as much if she couldn't see you."

Jean sighed. "Its possible. Well Draco, I think I've kept you long enough on this phone, I'll get back to you with a date soon, or Hermione can call back with one."

"Of course."

"Have a good day."

"You too. Bye."

"Bye."

He hung up, staring oddly at his muggle devise. The conversation had been mostly formal, and the goodbyes were somehow friendly.

So formal, so strange.

* * *

><p>Hermione walked out of the fireplace later and gave Draco an odd look, noticing his upturned eyebrow as she walked to the couch.<p>

"Planning to leave your face in that position," she commented with a small smile, setting her things on the floor and sitting beside him.

He chuckled. "I don't think so, might ruin my beautiful face."

She laughed. "Ah, such a shame. You do have a _beautiful _face." She reached over and pinched his cheeks, only to have her hand knocked away quickly by Draco's larger one, a look of horror on his face.

"What the bloody hell are you doing!"

She laughed. "Don't worry Malfoy, your face is fine."

"Good. If you were to ruin my looks Granger, it would be the death of our relationship."

"So concerned about looks," she mused, rolling her eyes, before meeting his once again. "So what was with the odd look you gave me when I came in?"

He shrugged. "I had a conversation with your mother, and I'm blaming you for the awkwardness of it all."

"How am I to blame?"

He smirked. "You weren't here love."

* * *

><p>Hermione left the next morning, after having given up rousing Draco from the bed. He claimed he was exhausted from last night, even if they had only gone at it once. She wandered through the halls of Hogwarts, making her way to the library without an interruption from Neville this time.<p>

She noticed vaguely how quiet it was without his company. Granted, she'd spent most of her working days at Hogwarts making the journey down the corridors alone, but she'd never considered how lonely it really was. Opening the library door, she almost wished he was there to keep her company.

The screeching of an owl pulled her from her thoughts.

Hermione jumped a bit, having not even noticed the feathery creature outside the door, perched on a thin piece of trim in the brick wall. She looked up at it curiously, wondering who could possibly be sending her mail so very early in the morning.

"Come here then," she muttered, gesturing for it to follow her into the library. The bird hooted and flew on ahead of her, perching now on top of the librarian's main desk lamp. She sighed.

Setting down her bag, she produced a small bag of owl food, specifically for times like this. Holding out her left hand, she allowed the birds pointy beak to peck her for a moment to eat the food, as she took the letter in her other hand. It was only a minute later that the birds finished its treat and flew out her open window.

She sat down in her desk chair and broke the seal, noticing it had MM engraved into it. _Minerva McGonagall. _

She opened the letter, scanning the contents quickly:

_Dear Miss Granger-_

_As with everyone applying for a job here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it is required for a formal letter to be sent to each person about a date and time to discuss the requirements for the desired job as well as the person's resume. I have high expectations of what you can bring to the school and what you could teach to each individual whom takes your classes._

_Unless there is reason to change your appointments, I will be meeting with you about the two jobs you wish to apply for at this time:_

_Next Saturday, January 22 at 12:30 p.m_

_Best of luck to you! I am certain we will be seeing you on our teacher board next year._

_Headmistress Minerva McGonagall_

Hermione smiled. She had a date to see McGonagall! She didn't want to boast (well maybe a little) but she was certain she could take anyone down who wanted one of her jobs, and do so easily.

Especially Astoria Greengrass.

* * *

><p>Hermione was home by a quarter after five that night, excited by her letter from the Headmistress and too impatient to wait and tell Draco at six. She'd taken the last hour off, shutting down the library and all, just to go see him.<p>

As the green flames around her faded, the living room came into view. She frowned, glancing around and setting her bag and coat onto the couch. Draco was often in front of the television at night, something she had picked up on. Tonight however he was nowhere to be seen.

Then she heard the voices carrying in from the other room.

Two _male _voices.

She paused in all movement. Having been around Blaise and Theo so very much recently, she had become accustomed to the sound of their voices, just like she knew Draco's. Listening carefully she could pick out Draco's voice for certain, but the second one was far harder to determine, although it had the same authoritative tone to it that Draco's often did.

She tiptoed to their bedroom door, the voices growing louder. They were _yelling _about something, Draco's voice far louder then the other one, but still a bit too far away to be in the bedroom itself, she realized.

_That room..._

Her mind latched onto Draco's hidden chamber behind the bookcase, the one she had stumbled upon weeks ago and had yet to venture back. And inside, those pictures of his family...

_Lucius Malfoy._

She knew it had to be him Draco was arguing with. Who else had she seen in the room? Only Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange, two females...but what would Draco be yelling about with his father?

_"Why look, my bastardly son has brought home the Mudblood indeed. I see he hasn't lied."_

Lucius' words rang in her head. The first and only time she had ever seen anything in that room was in her underwear, when Lucius had called her a slut...

_"Slut. Dirty little Mudblood. How dare my son touch you? Such filth pawing at my son? The nerve!" _

She clenched her teeth. Hermione Granger was _not _a slut and Lucius Malfoy was the last person she was going to believe on that note.

Had Draco found out? Was that what all the yelling was about?

_Would he defend me from his father?_

She shook her head, dropping her quiet act and deciding it was time to confront Malfoy over this. Stepping boldly into the room, she noticed that, indeed, the bookcase was slid out and loud, angry voices were coming from the entrance.

She walked over to the entrance and leaned in, looking at the scene in front of her.

"I don't care, you will not destroy centuries of perfect pureblood unison to be with a Mudblood-"

"Father," Draco snapped, rubbing his head. "We've been over this, nothing is going to change my mind. You cannot influence me anymore."

"I thought I raised you better then this! You're willing to throw away your perfect blood and let our legacy be soiled by-"

"Yes," Draco snapped, eyes rolling up to meet his fathers. "And I always thought you were perfect, invincible, the ideal person to be when I grew up. Look how wrong I was father; you're rotting away in Azkaban and the only connection we will have until the day you finally die is through a bloody picture! Things change father, but not always in the way you want them to."

"You may be sharp witted," Lucius hissed, "but you're still a fool if you think she'll have-"

"Draco," Narcissa interrupted, looking past her son. "You're being careless!"

Draco whipped his head around to stare at Hermione, who had a thoughtful, afraid expression on her face. Lucius began another rant of foul, hateful words directed at the girl, and Draco swore as he looked into Hermione's eyes.

"God damn," he said, turning from his father and storming over to her, not sparing a glance back at his family. "You could not possibly pick a worse time!"

"Draco-" she began, before he had grabbed her arm and pulled her back from the space and out of the way of the bookcase, flicking his wand and letting it slide back into place. "Let go of me!"

He released her arm, but his eyes remained livid. "What the hell were you thinking? You-"

"Was _I _thinking," she snapped, glaring back at him. "You're the one with the hidden room! Don't you even begin to yell at me about _anything _Draco Malfoy! This is absurd!"

"Oh," he said icily, raising an eyebrow. "I'll have you know I was in an extremely important conversation in there, and it would've ended much better had you _not _interfered."

She stared at him, unable to speak. "Interfere? You're telling me not to interfere in a _talk_? You interfered in half my life last month! And you're telling me not to bloody interfere!" She turned away from him and threw her hands up. "You're unbelievable!"

He bit his lip watching her, her eyes big and angry. _That _was the most fire he'd seen within her since her arrival, even more then when he was fucking her.

Anger at his controlling nature. But hey, it was how he saw things. He wanted her protected, he wanted his parents' acceptance even though he knew it wouldn't come, and he wanted his ring on her finger.

He cringed at his own thoughts, watching her flop onto the bed and glare at him. Dragging her out of the room, not giving her a minute's explanation or listening to her, wasn't something she would ever let him get away with.

And he didn't _want _to lie. He just didn't love the truth.

He had been telling his parents again about his plans for Hermione, his hope. And his father would hear none of it. He couldn't quite figure out what made him desire his father's approval so much, since he hated the man down to the bone Yet he felt he needed their acceptance before it would ever really be okay to pursue Granger.

Completely stupid.

And now she was glaring angrily at him because he was answering nothing, and blaming her for interfering, when, just as she had pointed out, he had interfered with half of her life a month ago, and flipped it around for the better.

And somehow, in the gruffness of his words a minute ago, and his carelessness over her feelings, he'd become an ass again.

_Bloody fantastic._

He ran a hand through his hair. "Hermione-"

"If you're just going to go on about how I'm interfering with _your _bloody secrets then I wish you would just stop now and save us both the time." She picked her feet up and spun on the bed so she could lay down fully, glaring at the ceiling.

"You're not interfering," he said slowly, eyeing her. "I'm just not used to sharing my secrets with outsiders."

"I'm a outsider now?" She was livid by this point.

"Fuck Hermione, I'm trying to apologize!"

"You're obviously not very good at it," she huffed, turning her head to look at him in the light of the room. He averted his eyes, sighing and leaning against the bookcase, looking directly at the wall.

She noticed him twitch, just slightly, in his hand. He seemed agitated, guarding the bookcase with his body. The relaxed demeanor that he was trying to put off was too stiff for him, and she knew he was guarding the room instinctively, not thinking.

Guarding his secret.

"Why the room," she asked suddenly, looking back up at the ceiling.

It wasn't exactly that she expected him to answer why he had a hidden room full of magical pictures of his deceased family, but more that she hoped he would say something, anything, closer to the Draco she had grown close to. This conversation seemed to be spiraling downwards quickly, and she wanted it to end as quickly as possible.

"To keep my memories alive."

Her head snapped around and she sat up. His face was still turned away from her, staring at the wall, expressionless. She bit her lip, glancing at the bookcase behind him.

"Memories lay in your heart not in pictures."

"Memories don't have to only be in one place," he countered, shifting slightly against the bookcase.

She raised an eyebrow and stood up, remaining by the bed. "Then why do you argue with them, if they're only memories."

He turned his head slightly to look at her through the corners of his eyes. "That's what makes it better, I can speak to my family, and not be alone."

_Alone? Where did alone come into this? _She tilted her head, not breaking eye contact. "You were never alone. You had Theo and Blaise, now you have me."

"Not right away," he said quietly. "Not for a year. Were you ever alone for a year Granger? With no one to turn to?"

She opened her mouth and shut it. Alone...alone meant single, without one damn person beside you. Marcus, Ron...they had been crazy, evil even when you considered Flint, but had she been alone? She had had a job at least, with people who saw the fake version of herself. Harry, Ginny, Neville, Hagrid, had all been there even when she was suffering. They just hadn't known it.

Was that alone?

"No," she said, walking towards him. "Never alone."

"I was," he said simply. "After the war, when my mother died...and my father went to Azkaban, Severus was dead...I didn't have anyone to help me."

She wrinkled her nose. "No one?"

He shook his head. "No. Blaise, Theo, we became friends after I ran into Blaise again at a club one night. He thought I looked upset, offered to buy me a drink. We just kept talking afterwards." He smiled lightly, and it threw Hermione off entirely. "After that I wasn't alone."

"Why the room," she asked again. "Weren't you at the manor until recently?"

He chuckled, and again she was unsure how to take his frenzied change in attitude as their conversation continued. "No, the moment the war concluded I got out of there. Memories Granger. You don't stay where the bad memories lie."

"So you came here," she said slowly, knitting pieces of his story together. "You came here to escape the pain the manor now holds."

"Yes," he said quietly, not looking at her again. "If you must know, I left to escape from what I couldn't handle."

She raised an eyebrow. He was admitting to not being able to handle something? She reached up and lightly ran a hand over his forehead. "Are you feeling alright Draco? You're not sounding like yourself."

He looked down at her, not responding. _No, I really don't sound like myself do I? _She was running her hand over his face, trying to make sure he wasn't off his rocker entirely. Here he was, speaking like some pansy about why he left the manor, why he had a hidden room, and she was still here, caring about him.

He caught her hand lightly in his, and kissed it. "I left the manor because I didn't want to live in a place where so many were tortured and killed. I couldn't fall asleep at night or walk through my house without remembering the things I would see. I couldn't do it, so I left, and took the few things I needed with me."

"And, that room holds those things?"

He nodded, looking into her brown eyes as he talked again. "Yes. I was never close with my family Hermione, not in the ways many people are. Lucius was cold, collected and cruel. Bella, much the same, except she was insane. My mother, she couldn't live with the idea of dishonoring her family and leaving Lucius, and died in the end because she didn't get out in time, didn't get us out." He brushed a piece of her hair back, watching the gears in her head work as he spoke. "I brought the pictures, not because I loved every member of my family but because I wanted to prove I can live on without the influences they left on me."

She pursed her lips. "You're trying to defy your father?"

"Never defy. If I were only doing things to anger him, in a way I would still be doing things for him, because I'm still living off his reaction. I still wish, I suppose, that he would simply accept the life I'm choosing for myself, but that wont happen, yet I still bother to hope."

Hermione tilted her head slightly. "Hoping is never bad. But people sometimes never change. They're too set in their ways."

"Like my father?" She nodded, and he sighed. This talk was so varied and covering too much of his past to be comfortable. His father was a sore spot, and so was his family, the manor, all of it. And telling her his feelings like this was out of character for him, yet he couldn't stop the words from spilling out his lips.

"I should've told you," he said simply, still looking at her. "But, I wasn't ready. Think about it Hermione, how many times at Hogwarts do you think I shared a secret with anyone?"

She gazed up at him. "Not often I suppose. Wasn't in your nature."

"It still isn't. I would have shared Hermione, but at my own pace. This," he said, gesturing to them both, "is too fast for me. I could handle your secrets at least, because they weren't mine."

"You don't have to handle yours alone anymore though," she pushed, touching his face. "Now, when you're ready, you can share them with me."

He stared at her, biting down the fear in his mind. He feared his past, but he feared reliving outside of his own head even more. "Someday, I'll tell you everything. Just not yet. You can live with what you already know now, can't you?" His eyes pleaded with her to drop the topic.

She gave him a tight smile. "For now. But someday, I would like to help you."

He nodded, wrapping his arms around her and burying his head into her hair.

* * *

><p>Hermione didn't sleep that night. She listened to Draco's calm breathing as he lay asleep beside her, but could not call upon sleep herself.<p>

She had too much to think about. The room, his sudden outburst about his father, and the reasons behind the room. The pain at the manor...it all connected in some very difficult and confusing web, and she could only begin to understand things. She didn't like how interwove everything was, it meant that to find the exact answer she would have to dig deeper then he was comfortable with.

_He wants his father's acceptance, although he can't have it. He fears something, but what exactly? The way he looked when he talked about his mother...it must have killed him to lose her. He has that room to lock away memories he can't always face, and to try to connect with a family that was never close._

She didn't cry that night, but to her it all seemed very sad, the life he had led.

* * *

><p>Hermione left quite early Friday morning the fourteenth. she didn't want to talk to Draco yet, didn't want to be tempted to question him. She thought it would be better to give him his space, before hammering down the continuous stream of questions that she knew she would have.<p>

Now she wished she had questioned him. Sitting at her desk in the early morning as she checked in returned books, all her mind could focus on was the blond boy back in the apartment, and his explanation of things.

His exterior was held in perfect order, while it seemed a war raged beneath the surface. He had pains like everyone else, and he suffered losses from the war too.

He was just bad at showing it.

She sighed and put her head on the desk, hearing a dull clinging as something hit the wood. Sitting back up, she grabbed the chain of the necklace around her neck. It was red-orange, on an old chain.

_Draco's necklace._ The one he had given her weeks ago, that would call him to her if she was ever in need. Hermione was very glad she had grabbed the chain first instead of the charm.

_"Wear it. I can tell when you're not." _How could he tell when she was wearing it or not? Thinking back, Draco had never explained much of anything about the necklace, past his uncanny ability to be able to know something was wrong when Flint had come over and tortured her in the damn living room. And she hadn't even touched it then.

_Strange magic. I'll have to question him about it later, maybe a great deal._

* * *

><p>Draco lay with his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling, considering his actions last night. He'd been open, calm, and quiet while he explained. It was very unlike him.<p>

And now he knew, as soon as she thought he was okay, the questions would come. He wasn't looking forward to that. Draco Malfoy was uncomfortable sharing his feelings, his past, and the damn witch would probably make him do it again!

_Damn Hermione, always questioning everything. _

He had to admit though, despite the fact that he hated talking about himself, he felt a slight weight lifted off of him after he spoke to her. It had been three years since the war ended, and even Blaise didn't know that much about him. Telling Hermione a rough draft of how things affected him had been the biggest stress relief he could remember having.

Maybe if she withheld her questions for a good while, he wouldn't be so put off answering her the next time.

* * *

><p>Hermione arrived back to the flat at six that night, deciding it would be best to not make any early arrivals from work for a while, to find Draco sitting lazily on the couch, reading a book.<p>

"Hey," she said comfortably as she set her things down and sat beside him, hoping to not make him uncomfortable. "How was your day?"

He seemed at ease as he placed the book on their coffee table and smiled at her. "Good, I relaxed some."

"Ha! I wish I had a lazy day here and there. Actually, I wish I had busier days! Being the librarian is time consuming yes, but it's not like teaching is."

"Ugh, teaching," he groaned, rubbing his temples. "I forgot that I have a meeting with McGonagall about that silly potions job tomorrow. The old bat's probably going to have a good laugh when she sees me of all people walk in, ready to educate the next generation."

Hermione smiled softly. "Very true. Oh! I forgot to tell you, she sent me a note as well. I have a long meeting with her next Saturday about both the jobs I'm considering."

He nodded his head once. "Good, else you'd probably have me pester her when I go."

"I would never!"

He shrugged.

"Oh, I almost forgot," she continued, reaching back and picking up her bag. From it she produced coins and bills, handing them over to him in a messy pile. "This months rent."

He raised his eyebrows nearly to his hairline and pushed her hand away, chuckling as he did so. "Keep your money love."

She raised one eyebrow and kept her arm outstretched. "You made me pay for an entire month when I had only lived here a week, now you wont take my rent for the month?"

"Well, for one thing your payment timing is off. And if I were really concerned about you paying Granger I would've pestered you already." He pushed her hand down gently and into the sofa, leaving it there. "Besides, I can't honestly ask my girlfriend to pay her own rent, when I'm oh-so-rich."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't act so obnoxious, I wont be a freeloader." She shoved the money back towards him.

_Trust me, you'll never be a freeloader again. _"Fine, fine. But don't expect to pay every month either."

"Oh, I will be," she said, as he stood and headed to his room to put the money someplace until he could (hopefully) sneak it back into her belongings.

He set the money inside a folder he found shoved randomly into his bookcase, not quite sure why he had ever put it there. He studied the room for a minute and gave a sigh of relief.

She hadn't questioned him again yet, and it was relieving to not be harassed for answers.

Did Hermione know how to harass?

* * *

><p>Saturday passed by slowly. Hermione looked over her resume again and changed a few things to keep it more up to date, and Draco hid his away from her so he wouldn't have to spend the time it would take to fix everything.<p>

Around 4:30, Blaise called.

"How's the plan going for your deadline?"

"Shut up Zabini, its gotten nowhere."

"You only have a month you know."

"Yes, we've discussed it before at length, or do you not remember?"

"Ha-ha very funny. Really Draco, what are you going to do? Hermione's not half-brained, she won't fall for your tricks."

"Then its a good thing I don't want to trick her, isn't it?"

Blaise sighed from his side of the phone. "Let me know if you need help Draco, because I don't honestly see how you're ever going to accomplish this and keep both."

"At the very least, I have a trust fund if things go to hell. And the family business if I have to."

"You're not a businessman Draco, I'm sorry to say. Even the teacher job is a little hard to believe."

"I know, I can't believe she's persuading me to do that."

"Well, whatever you end up doing, good luck with it."

"Yeah, thanks."

* * *

><p>Saturday night Draco spent a lot of time teaching Hermione a new position, which she only liked once she had it mastered, much to Draco's annoyance and amusement. Sunday morning was slept through.<p>

By Sunday afternoon, Hermione had redone her resume a fourth time and located Draco's.

"You really should fix this you know, it's so out of date."

He shrugged. "I believe I'll come off better if I talk to the old bat then give her a paper."

"Because," she said from her spot on the living room chair with a tone of irony in her voice, "you were her favorite student at Hogwarts."

"Indeed," Draco said, leaning over, snatching his own paper off the table. "I'll fix it before tomorrow, don't worry."

"Its your job you're applying for, you should be the one worried."

He waved his hand at her. "Since I'm being dragged to this school tomorrow, I might as well walk you to the library."

Hermione looked up and smiled at him. "I would like that Draco."


	4. Week 13

**A/n: **Hey you guys! Sorry for the late update, but things happened at home. Anyways, here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it! As for the length of this story, I only see about seven more chapters at most here, more or less, so this will probably be shorter then "Think With Your Head Not Your Dick". Hope you enjoy anyways!

Also, big thanks to my beta **rowanoak5 **for spending all the time helping my fix my grammar and such!

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><p>Reviews:<p>

**readingismypassion: **It does! And Astoria and Draco's talk? You'll see...

**They Call Me Ginger: **I try to stay away from boring!

**lulu: **Thanks and here you go!

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><p><strong>Week 13: January 17-January 23<strong>

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><p>Monday the 17 Hermione woke up happy, gazing over at her boyfriend with a look of pure joy. She couldn't quite decide why she was so happy that morning, until she remembered that for the first time she would actually have a boyfriend drop her off at work. Was it really that big of a deal? Maybe not, but it made her tingle all over.<p>

Thirty minutes later Draco was up as well, dressed in fine robes. Hermione was in her work uniform, bag slung over one shoulder. They had just flooed through to Hogwarts, and now he was walking her to the library, one arm around her shoulders.

"Please tell me you fixed that resume," she pleaded, looking up at his silver eyes.

He smirked. "Vaguely. But honestly, what am I going to put on it? Ex-Auror, Ex-Death Eater, and Ex-Malfoy Business Manager? Yeah, sounds bloody fantastic." His smirk fell away. "They all have ended horribly, all three of those jobs. I'd rather go in with a blank piece of paper."

She looked up at him. "Being a Death Eater doesn't qualify as a job."

He rolled his eyes. "Suppose not."

They stopped outside the library, Hermione turning her body towards his with a smile. "Well, whatever you end up presenting her with... even if it's a blank sheet- I'm sure you'll do great." She kissed his on the cheek.

"Yes, I'm sure that my charm and witty comments will carry me through this meeting," he agreed, with another roll of his eyes.

She smiled, stepping back and pulling out her key to the library. "Get going then, she's waiting to begin your meeting. You really shouldn't keep your future boss waiting."

He sighed. "You're too confident that I'm getting this job. The old bat and I never got along, and its not like I was her favorite person. If Snape were the Headmaster I might have a chance, but with McGonagall... this isn't going to work you know."

She raised an eyebrow, tilting her head slightly. "Just go up there already. You don't know what's going to happen. Have a little faith Draco. You were a good student, and that will help you."

He huffed, taking a step towards her and grabbed her elbow gently, leaning in for a kiss, only to be stopped by her fingers. He glared at her smiling face.

"None of that, no distractions."

He rolled his eyes. "It's not a distraction." She shook her head, giving him a soft smile before walking into the Hogwarts' library.

* * *

><p>"I must congratulate you Mr. Malfoy," Minerva McGonagall said as Draco took a seat on the opposite side of her desk. He raised a delicate eyebrow and waited for her to continue.<p>

"Helping Miss Granger," she said, rearranging some papers on her desk, pulling out a specific one, "would have been a very uncharacteristic move for the boy who once attended this school." She looked up at him, studying him for a moment. "But you are not the same person who stepped into Hogwarts as a first year ten years ago."

"No I'm not," he said, holding her cool gaze. "Time changes everything."

"Indeed, but we are not here to reminisce on the past." She folded her hands in front of her on the desk and looked at him pointedly. "I must say, when I heard you were looking at the position as the potions professor I was relieved."

"Relieved?"

"Yes, relieved Mr. Malfoy. After everything that has come to pass, and your advanced dueling skills, I had expected Miss Granger to be talking about the DADA position when she owled me concerning a job for you." She gave him a stubborn look. "This is a pleasant surprise. I think Potions would suit you quite well."

"It was my favorite class," he drawled, looking for something to say.

She nodded. "It was noted by the late Professor Snape that you possessed an aptitude for the subject," she continued. "He would often go on about your stellar achievements in his class."

Draco stiffed slightly at the mention of his godfather's name. It was still a sore subject, and even his comment earlier in the day to Hermione about him hadn't been entirely comfortable for the blond. "Sounds like him; gloating about a Slytherin." He wanted off the subject as quickly as possible; anything concerning his late god-father still hurt him.

The woman thought about commenting on that, but refrained. "Have you brought a resume with you today?"

Draco pulled out his wand and tapped the desk, watching his resume appear. "I wouldn't bother reading that too closely, it isn't anything exciting."

Minerva sighed. "Mr. Malfoy, although you claim to be trying to apply for this job, you're putting on a lousy show of it."

He nodded his head in agreement. "It was Hermione's idea in the first place for me to try this, I simply agreed."

She raised an eyebrow. "Is this job something you actually plan on following through with Mr. Malfoy? Or is this meeting a waste of my time?"

He considered her words, flipping them over several times in his mind. "I never really wanted to be an Auror. Teaching will never be a passion, but I can try to make a difference and maybe repair some of the damage I've done in the past."

The Headmistress gaze him an interested look. "Your past Mr. Malfoy? I would certainly think your reputation has already improved due to your heroic actions on behalf of Ms. Granger. Your caring actions didn't go unnoticed by the wizarding world you know."

He averted his eyes. "That doesn't mean that it has made anyone trust me any more then they already did-and believe me, the number of people who trust me even that little bit is certainly low. We Malfoy's didn't exactly make a lot of friends from the war, after all. If I were a parent sending my child here, I wouldn't trust me either."

The Headmistress shook her head. "All you've done Mr. Malfoy, Draco, is give me reasons to not hire you. Surely you can think of some good qualities in yourself."

He shrugged.

She shook her head. "You never cease to surprise me Malfoy. I personally thought this would be a wonderful opportunity for you."

"Eh?"

She smiled softly at him, and the action was so foreign coming from his former teacher that he nearly fell out of his chair. "Potions was your strong point. I think you could do a lot of good with it. Teaching may not be your ideal job, but working here at Hogwarts as our Potions professor could lead you elsewhere later in life."

Draco sat quietly looking at her. _If this is such a good position to take, why did Snape never get out?_

He knew how to answer himself, even before the thought passed through his mind. _Because Snape was looking for other things, that never quite worked out for him. _Draco cleared his mind then, forcing memories of his deceased godfather from his head. Could this really be a good position for him after all? _The old bat is right; I'm pretty damn good with potions..._

"Mr. Malfoy," Minerva inquired, after having stared at the quiet, thoughtful young man for almost two minutes straight. The male's head snapped back to gaze at her, his expression unreadable. Minerva mentally noted how very pleasant his blank look appeared compared with the scowl that had been plastered to his face for many years during his own schooling.

"Sorry," he grumbled, looking behind her now instead of at her. "Just thinking."

"Thinking is very good Malfoy, but I'll be needing to know whether you're taking this job or not."

His eyes snapped back to his face. "Come again? I believe I'm the one who's supposed to wait for your approval."

"However much you may doubt yourself Mr. Malfoy, I do not." She stood, picking up a folder of parchment as she did, holding it out to him. "I knew I'd be accepting you today as the new potions teacher, if for no other reason then your stellar skill in the discipline." She considered her statement a moment, then pushed the folder a bit closer to him, speaking again with a smile on her face. "And Miss Granger's constant assurance that you were perfect for the position, of course."

He stared at her, surprised. Never in his lifetime had Draco ever thought that McGonagall, old bat that she was, and someone whom had never gotten along with him, would be offering a teaching position to him at Hogwarts, and one in a main subject at that! And now she was waiting for him to decide whether or not to take it?

He nodded his head once to her, taking the offered folder. "Of course I'll take the job."

She nodded back, once again giving him that small smile he wasn't used to. "Excellent, I had a feeling you would. In there," she continued, looking pointedly at the folder, "is an outline of what needs to be covered by the lessons for each year of students. As you know, we only ever have one Potions professor, so you will of course need to teach every class." She noticed his unhappy look on the matter as she spoke, but chose to ignore it. "The set of teaching criteria included is merely an outline, and you should use it to plan your own lessons for the entire school year. I'll need the first half of the year's plan on my desk by late May. There are also some notes on how to handle students, but we also hold a yearly workshop on the matter. Everything you'll need to get started is there, and if you have any questions, please owl me."

Draco nodded, trying to decide what the hell he was going to do for lessons! He hadn't even considered it. Nonetheless, he wanted to look professional, and would not settle for dropping his collected act to ask a simple question like how to set up lessons. He was sure there had to be some sort of explanation of the matter in the folder. "Thank you."

"And thank you Mr. Malfoy," she replied as he stood. "I look forwards to working with you and Miss Granger next year. Speaking of which," she continued, picking up her wand and flicking it at a nearby stack. A folder flew out and landed gracefully in her hands. "Miss Granger needs an outline of both jobs she's applying for. I promised to owl them the other day, but it would be much faster to just give them to you."

"Of course." He turned to leave, unsure exactly how to bid her goodbye. When he had been working with Potter, well, under Potter, he hadn't had this feeling of respect for his boss from. This was new territory.

"Have a good day Mr. Malfoy."

"You too." He stepped out of the office, waiting to see if more words would spill from her mouth, and was pleased when none did. He hurried down the steps of the Headmistress's office, out into a corridor and let out a big breath.

Minerva McGonagall didn't make him nervous, never. Malfoy's didn't get nervous.

He just wasn't sure what to do with her friendliness.

* * *

><p>Monday night passed quickly. When Hermione returned home from work, she'd been utterly exhausted. But the moment she saw what the papers in Draco's hands were, she immediately livened up and begun studying them furiously, looking at both along with some notebooks to her side. When asked what the notebooks were for, she'd only said they were ideas for lessons.<p>

Draco had eventually left her to work, going to bed himself. When he awoke Tuesday morning, Hermione was grumbling and rubbing sleep from her eyes, using her wand to dress herself while trying to surpress a yawn.

"Long night?" To his surprise as he sat up, she beamed.

"Wonderful. I just can't wait for Saturday now."

He shook his head as she magically brought her things to her. "You're too happy over this."

She shook her head, headed towards the living room. "And you're not happy enough. I'll see you after work Draco! I want to get to work early so I can keep working on these schedules."

"Why didn't I need to preplan 'schedules'," he asked, following her into the living room.

"You don't need to. Its something I want to do. Besides, I heard your crazy ex Astoria-"

"Not my ex," he snapped.

"Draco," she said, looking at him sternly, setting down the books as she met his eyes. "Whether you date a person for a short time or long, its still an ex."

"And you're sure I dated her for a short time? Bloody hell, who've you been talking to?"

She smiled softly and stood on her tiptoes once she reached him, giving him a gentle kiss. "Don't worry about it. But work on your lesson plans today! You're already hired."

He rolled his eyes, wrapping his arms around her waist as she tried to turn away. "That so doesn't qualify as a goodbye kiss."

Raising an eyebrow, she wrapped her own arms around his pale neck. "And what does then, hmm?"

His lips attacked hers, kissing her deeply and with a hungry passion, Hermione herself kissing back with just as much vigor. His tongue slid across her lips, demanding entrance and she willingly opened her mouth to allow him in. Their tongues connected and a jolt went through Draco's body immediately southward to his manhood. They fought for dominance and he eventually let her win, savoring the passionate kiss before she pulled away, breathing heavily.

He rested his head against hers, smirking. "Now that's a kiss Granger."

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><p>Hours after Hermione left, Draco lay on the couch, staring at the open jewelry box on the living room table. He groaned, looking away from the impressive diamond.<p>

He couldn't ask her. Not in such a short amount of time. She would just get scared away and then he would lose two things he loved: her and money.

Hermione would never say yes, not at that point. If he had had more time, or a better past with her, then maybe he would have had a chance. But the better part of their schooling together had consisted only of cruel remarks and bullying. Those memories weren't gone, and their relationship hadn't been going long enough to convince her of anything.

Blaise and Theo had offered the idea of someone else, just to get the money. But he couldn't, not with how he felt about her. He just couldn't drop her for the luxury of his family's fortune.

He groaned again and snapped the box shut, heading to his room.

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><p>Tuesday night Draco was asleep before dinner, having been brooding, although Hermione couldn't figure out what it was over, and the result was an early night for them both.<p>

This turned out to be a good thing in Hermione's eyes however, when Draco was up bright and early to wish her a good day, kissing her with the same fiery passion he had the previous morning.

Once she was gone though, he began to stress. He had to meet with Astoria today, and he wasn't looking forward to that at all. He'd already gone through two cigarettes that morning, and was considering a third when a sharp knock at the apartment door dragged him from his thoughts. Standing, he exited the bedroom he now shared with Hermione and walked towards it, dreading the conversation ahead of him.

He opened the door to Astoria, who was trying to hard to be seductive as she leaned on the doorframe. He rolled his eyes as her smile widened into a toothy grin and she spoke, throwing her arms around his shoulders.

"Drakie! It's been ages!"

He again rolled his eyes, pulling the clingy girl off his frame and pushing her back from him in a far gentler way then he wish to, biting down his resentment and mentally reminding himself to absolutely never hurt a girl, no matter how much she annoyed him. "Really Astoria, have some damn control."

She pouted and crossed her arms, looking him dead on. "Oh Drakie, don't be a killjoy."

"We've already discussed this Astoria. Refrain from that nickname." Her look of displeasure did nothing to cause his stance on the matter to waver, and he took a step out of the apartment shutting the door behind him.

"What're you doing?"

He scoffed. "I'm not thick. There's no bloody way I'll be going in there with you, where there's furniture."

"Draco! What're you trying to imply?" The door clicked shut, leaving them in the hallway, and her frown deepened further.

He shrugged, leaning back against the tall piece of wood blocking the girl's entrance into the flat. "You know very well what I'm implying, and you know damn well there's truth in the statement." She opened her mouth to speak but he continued in a rush, content on flipping topics as quickly as he could. "Stop bothering my girlfriend."

She laughed dryly, shaking your head. "Oh stop this nonsense already Draco! It's pure idiocy. You cannot be serious about that Mud-"

"Watch yourself," he snapped, voice getting lower.

"Muggleborn," she corrected, eyeing him. "Stop wasting so much time! Really, you could be doing much more interesting things anyways."

She stepped up to him and placed her hands on his chest, only to be instantly pushed back off. "Mind your distance," he snapped, glaring. "Despite what you may think, I'm not interested in causing another _scandal _on the front page of Witch Weekly, so watch yourself."

She sighed. "What's gotten into you? You were never like this at Hogwarts! You were so much...easier."

"I was also a child at Hogwarts, and I only had one thing on my mind. I'm older now, and as I'm sure you've read, being the gossip-monger that you are, I'm with Hermione and things are different now. I'm focused on one woman for the first time in my life, and I actually give a fuck about her."

She looked hurt. "What about when we dated? Did it really mean nothing?"

He chuckled, and it reminded Astoria of the sixteen-year-old boy she had fallen for so long ago. "It was because Daphne wouldn't get off my case, and I told you from the very beginning that it meant absolutely _nothing_. Besides, you were easy to get in bed."

"Draco!"

He shrugged. "I see no real reason to lie to you about my motivations."

"You can't be serious," she hissed, stomping her foot in a very unladylike manner. "You're choosing some goody-two-shoes Gryffindor over me?"

He smirked. "Looks like I am."

"Then you're stupid," she snapped, glaring angrily at him again. "Your cutoff is at the end of February. If you have any desire to keep your fucking magic, then the Gryffindor isn't the way to go. She'll never agree."

He narrowed his eyes, leaning away from the door and took a step closer to her. "And how exactly do you know anything about that? You're certainly not anyone I would ever tell."

She smirked. "Pansy told me, a while ago, sometime in September I suppose. She mentioned it one day at a lunch, when I was talking about you. Honestly, how could you not remember? The last time I saw you I brought it up!"

"That was a brief meeting after that incident with Flint. Those twenty minutes were pure torture for me, and honestly, I wasn't paying attention to a damn word you said."

She huffed. "Well, you should've! I could save you from this hopeless quest Draco. She's a Mud-"

"Watch it."

"Muggleborn. The curse may not even accept her. Why risk everything on one slut?"

He grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him quickly but keeping his grip loose. "Watch your fucking words."

"You're so protective," she spat, pulling away. "Of someone who may not even be ready!"

He shrugged. "I'm anticipating that. I have no doubt in my mind that she would say no if I asked, she's too rational for a quick marriage. But I'd rather spend another two years getting her to like and love me then be alone and married to some bitch I don't even like. Its better then being with you Astoria, where there would be no passion."

"No passion," she fumed. "I happen to think we were quite passionate together!"

He shook his head. "If you thought that was passion, then you obviously haven't found someone yet who truly loves you."

She gave him a pained expression, like he'd just slapped her. "If you think she's the one then you don't know what love is!"

He sighed, looking at the girl, her black hair falling down her back and her eyes looking a bit teary. "I think she's the one, and that's all that matters. It may hurt, Astoria, but it's for the better. We would've never survived as a couple, not happily."

"You're completely loony aren't you? You'll throw everything away on a Mudblood and you won't save yourself, and care for me like I care for you!"

He shook his head, rolling his eyes. "You may think its passion we had, and that you even care for me, but it's not. I've seen how you treat men, the same way you treated me, and it isn't love Astoria. You'll know when you find it, but it's not with me."

She bolted forwards and shoved him. "You think you know everything! I'll show you Malfoy just how wrong for you she is!" Turning in a huff, she waved her wand and apparated away, leaving him alone in the hallway, in the aftermath of her fury.

_That doesn't sound promising. I just hope she doesn't cause any more issues._

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><p>Hermione returned home that night, walking out of the Floo and immediately noticing Draco's strange behavior. He was sprawled on the floor, the television on low, staring up at the ceiling.<p>

"Hello Hermione." He didn't look at her.

"Draco," she replied cautiously, setting her things down on the couch and wandering over to him. "Are you alright?" She sat beside him on the carpet, and looked down at his face curiously.

He shrugged, turning his eyes to meet hers. "Stressful day."

"Want to tell me about it?"

"Not particularly."

"Oh, ok." She stood, even more curious now about what was bothering him. Picking up her things, she headed towards Draco's bedroom, as she had done out of habit for weeks now. She couldn't remember at this point when that became such a routine thing to do.

"We had a visitor," he called out after her.

"Oh? Who?" She returned to the living room as she spoke, having set her things in the room.

"Astoria."

Hermione's gaze snapped on him. "What!"

He tilted his head and looked over at her, her eyes big and cautious. "Don't jump to conclusions dear, it was nothing bad."

"Then what was it," she questioned. She pushed the feeling that was forming in her away, reminding herself that she was _not_ jealous, just being cautious.

"I was simply reminding her that our meaningless relationship has been over for years and she needs to move on. I'm hoping she doesn't bother you again."

_So he did it to be nice? _"Oh," she said, sitting on the couch. "That's... very considerate. But Draco, I would have preferred you not to have meant with her at all. She doesn't seem to care whether or not your relationship is dead, she's just overwhelmed with the idea of getting you back." She huffed. "Really, you shouldn't give her false hope."

"Considering how the conversation went, I wouldn't worry about that." _Mostly._

She shrugged, and he finally got off the floor where he had been for hours to sit beside her and hold her hand tightly. "I suppose."

"Great." He kissed her cheek. "Now stop worrying. It would be awful to see you get wrinkles."

She rolled her eyes, smiling slightly.

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><p>Thursday the 19 passed uneventfully. Hermione went to work and came home in a bitter mood, while Blaise and Draco spent the day discussing his dilemma and deadline. That night despite Draco's sweet kisses he couldn't convince Hermione to do anything with him.<p>

Friday morning Hermione stared longingly at the couch in the living room. Draco noticed her strange look, and decided to question her on the matter.

"Are you really that tired," he muttered, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms tightly around her middle.

"No," she said simply, shrugging him off and grabbing her things.

He raised an eyebrow. "What is it then? That didn't seem like much of a daydream."

She shrugged. "I just realized yesterday, after seeing Mrs. Norris in the hall with Filch, how much I miss my cat."

He stared at her. "A cat?" He grunted. "I never realized those beasts could have such value to _anyone_. Horrid little things they are."

She rolled her eyes, playfully hitting his arm. "Don't be a prick, I loved my cat." That sad appearance returned to her eyes. "He died a few years back."

"I'm sorry," Draco soothed, awkwardly placing his hand on her arm. _How the hell do you comfort someone over a cat? _

She shrugged again, turning away. "Its alright, I've seen Mrs. Norris many times in the halls, its nothing new." Before he could reply, she picked up some Floo powder and announced her destination, disappearing in green smoke.

He rolled his eyes. _Oh fuck me. I really must be losing my mind._

* * *

><p>When Hermione returned home later that night, there wasn't a sign of Draco. She carried her things to the bedroom, looking around curiously. But she didn't find Draco there either.<p>

"Well, who're you," she cooed, noticing the small gray and black kitten on the bed, having taken over Draco's personal pillow. She reached down and scooped it up, holding it to her chest and rubbed his head softly. "Where did you come from?"

It purred up at her, and she smiled widely, both thinking of her own cat and enjoying the kitten held firmly to her.

"Now where's Draco," she continued, glancing around the room. Nothing seemed out of order, no random slips of paper lying about. Shrugging, she headed into the living room to do the same search, just in case she had overlooked something.

It appeared she had. Lying on the table in plain site was a note, which she hadn't even noticed while searching for her boyfriend. Now she bent closer and read it.

_Obviously you've done a second look about the house and finally noticed this. I'm at Blaise's for a while, helping him with an... interesting relationship he's thrown himself into. Enjoy the cat, it practically clawed my arm off when I took it from the cage, and then took over my favorite pillow. This cat better mean something to you dearest. -Draco_

She rolled her eyes, looking at the little kitten. Had her little episode of simply missing a feline earlier caused this unexpected gift? Malfoy was rich, but Merlin, he didn't have to buy her every little thing she mentioned.

But as the kitten nuzzled against her, she pushed those thoughts away. It was one gift, and incredibly cute at that. She'd accept it, but not without a firm talk to Draco later.

* * *

><p>"She loved it, but she doesn't like me spending too much on her. Christmas was enough, she keeps saying. I appreciate the idea though Potter. She looked overjoyed at that fucking cat." It had been almost an hour since Hermione's return and discovery of the kitten. Draco had abandoned his own bedroom for a few minutes to avoid the pesky feline.<p>

He'd run into Potter two days ago, and they had somehow stumbled into an uncomfortable conversation, eventually leading to their pet owls, and how much Harry had disliked Hermione's cat over the years for trying to end Hedwig's life. It was the first time Draco had ever thought about Hermione's love for animals, and with her admittance a few days later about it, he'd decided to go out today and finally purchase her one, after consulting Potter on the matter (unfortunately).

Harry chuckled from the other side of the phone. "I told you Malfoy. Remember, I do know a few things about my best friend."

"I suppose. At least you know where to get a bloody cat."

"Same place you got your owl you know."

"Yes, well," Draco continued, clearing his throat. "I've avoided going to sleep with her and that damned animal long enough, I better let you go."

"Wow Malfoy. You may just end up a softie after all. But if I may ask. whatever has propelled you to be so very nice to Hermione? This seems like more then a crush."

Draco rolled his eyes. "You'll see in time Potter."

"Don't hurt her," he threatened.

"Of course not. Now really, let me go."

"Whatever. Evening Malfoy."

"Potter." He clicked off the phone and walked to the bedroom where Hermione was already sprawled, playing with the cat. He rolled his eyes. "If you expect me to sleep up there you best remove the strange creature from the bed."

Hermione chuckled. "It's a cat Malfoy, cats sleep on their owners beds all the time."

He huffed. "Not my bed."

"You're so childish," she said, picking up the kitten gently, setting it down in a small cat bed near the wall on her side. She pet its head once. "Don't be mean to her, it's rude."

"Still no name Granger," he questioned, sliding into the bed after using her wand to remove any cat hair. "I would've thought you of all people would have named it by now."

"Her." She smiled and leaned over, kissing him. "Thank you, again. But really Draco, no more presents. I don't need to be spoiled."

He smirked and traced an imaginary line on her jaw. "You'll always be spoiled with me."

She rolled her eyes, chuckled, and lay down.

* * *

><p>Hermione stood outside Minerva McGonagall's office the next day, just after lunch, waiting for the clock to say 12:30 and begin her appointment. She flipped back through the folder again, reviewing her résumés and both of the plans she had for a teaching schedule next year.<p>

12:30 came and Hermione stood quickly, walking up to the office and saying the password, watching the doorway appear and she took the revolving staircase up. Inside she found Minerva smiling pleasantly. Quickly taking a seat, she set down the folder and flipped it open, saying a pleasant 'hello'.

"Good afternoon Miss Granger," she replied sweetly. "Prepared as usual?"

"Of course." She pulled out two papers. "I've drawn up some detailed drafts of what I would teach on each subject, following the guidelines for what must be taught in a year. The Ancient Ruins draft is quite a bit longer, although I think my plans for Arithmancy are more thought out-"

"Hermione," the Headmistress said coolly, looking at her. "Whatever you have drawn up I'm sure is phenomenal, and will be an excelled lesson plan for whichever subject you choose to teach."

Hermione blinked several times. "Excuse me professor, are you actually allowing me to choose which job I want?"

"Of course Miss Granger. Your marks are above anyone else applying, probably anyone else who will ever apply. I've seen you lead in battle, heal, and take notice of every detail. Teaching should come fairly easily, so I'm leaving the decision to you. And please, don't call me professor. I think you can call me Minerva at this point."

Hermione smiled, but didn't know how she felt about calling a former teacher by their first name. "Thank you! Oh god, now which one do I want?"

Hermione flipped the pages around again so they were facing her, studying each. Arithmancy was something she'd excel in, numbers and all. Ancient Ruins however, fascinated her. It was a subject in school that always made her think, if only to a degree, and she wouldn't mind teaching one of the most interesting classes she had ever taken.

_Plus, I'll get to knock Astoria out of her position...oh Hermione that's an evil thought! Focus on what you want, not what will block out Greengrass._

_Oh Bollocks, I want that job anyways!_

"Ancient Ruins," Hermione said clearly, smiling at McGonagall. "It was a subject I was always very passionate about and I'd love to teach it."

"Excellent choice," Minerva said, nodding her approval. "I had a feeling you would take that. Arithmancy may be a strong point for you, but I see you being far more passionate with Ancient Ruins, as you said."

Hermione nodded.

"At this point I would typically explain the procedure of making up a lesson plan, and the rules at Hogwarts that you would be briefed on...but seeing that you already know both those things, I'm going to skip straight to a hug my dear."

Hermione smiled as she stood and hugged her favorite teacher, giddy over the job she had just acquired. That was probably the shortest interview in history, and she had gotten to make all the choices? Impossible.

"You must really trust my judgment," Hermione said happily, pulling away.

"Of course dear, why wouldn't I? You're not called the brightest witch of your age for nothing."

Hermione crushed her in another hug.

* * *

><p>Hermione went home that night to a field of madness.<p>

Draco was sitting on one side of the couch, her kitten one seat over, trying to swat the beast away. Each time he did, the cat clawed him. She could clearly see the angry red marks on his hand, and hear the curse words he kept muttering under his breath.

"Whatever are you doing," she giggled, studying the scene.

"Your beast wont bloody leave me alone," he huffed. "Followed me around all day, even made my leg bleed. Its an abomination Hermione, I can't believe I ever purchased this horror."

She laughed, shaking her head. "You're just not an animal person, are you Draco?"

He crinkled his nose. "I'm definitely not a cat person."

She shook her head and sat down on his lap, drawing his attention away from the feline. "Well, do you want to hear my news or not?"

He raised an eyebrow and relaxed into the sofa, flicking his hand at the cat, who only walked up to Hermione and cuddled up next to her leg. "And what is that, my little Gryffindor? Did you do something rash and take both jobs?"

She shook her head, amused. "Of course not. I learned all about packed schedules back in third year." He gave her a confused look that she chose to ignore. "I took the Ancient Ruins job."

He smiled. "Good for you! I knew you'd get one of them, there was never a doubt."

"Actually," she said happily, "McGonagall gave me the choice, claimed I was qualified for anything."

He scoffed. "If she thought anything less, then she'd be stupid."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Don't be rude."

He chuckled, circling her body with his arms and he kissed her cheek. "Let me take you to dinner."

"Oh?"

"A celebration of sorts. My girl has just gotten herself a well-deserved job. I can't just sit here at home. We must go out."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "We didn't go out when you got your job."

"Eh, my job was pushed upon me by someone," he said teasingly. She frowned and he sighed. "Fine, a joint celebration then, for us both."

She nodded. "I like that better."

* * *

><p>Their return to the flat was taken over by a mixture of moans and sweaty bodies, and was ended by a shower and the interruption of a cat jumping up to join them. Hermione thought it was cute, Draco wanted to kill it.<p>

Sunday the 23 brought with it another light frost, making the outside the perfect place for pictures and romantic walks.

Yet they never stepped out the door.

Hermione sat on the bed, staring at Draco's phone as he got dressed. Glancing at the clock, he realized it was nearly four, and he was again, dressing himself after having some fun with her in the shower.

"The phone's not that impressive you know."

She waved a dismissive hand at him. "Yes, well, I still have to call my parents you know."

He groaned. "Yes, the return to hell."

"Draco!" She picked up his pillow and hit him roughly with it. "Don't be rude!"

"Sorry," he muttered. "I'll just leave you to your talk." He walked quickly out of the room, making sure to sidestep the cat, shutting the door behind him.

Once on the couch, he groaned again. Hermione's mom was alright to visit, but being stared down by her protective father wasn't something he was looking forward to.

He sat for many minutes, staring at the wall, before he got the dull sensation in his heart that she was uneasy. He could always tell when she was uneasy, or in danger.

Blood did that.

Standing, he strode to the bedroom and opened the door without knocking first to announce his entrance. She was looking out the window, phone clasped in her hand, a strange expression on her face.

"Everything alright?"

She nodded. "Thought I saw someone outside the window is all, which is rather stupid considering we're on the third floor."

He studied her a moment. Her hands were at her sides, not near the necklace. _Either the bond is strengthening, or I've never taken into account how strong the connection between us is when we're close together._ "Probably just your imagination then."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't start making me sound like a child."

He smirked. "Never, only innocent." He kissed her ear. "So when do I have to go see those parents of yours?"

"Friday." He cringed.

* * *

><p>Hermione lay in bed that night, staring at the ceiling. How had he known about her uneasiness? He appeared nearly the moment it set in. She frowned.<p>

_It's the necklace. _Had to be. Whatever he had done to it was obviously strong, and perhaps getting stronger as time progressed. It was unsettling.

She had to discuss it with him soon.

* * *

><p><strong>Review! I love your feedback, and I may start updating more often if you guys send your love in! However, my grandma just died, so updates maybe a bit varied for a while! Don't kill me but, shit happens.<strong>

**Review my loves :)**


	5. Week 14

**Jelisha Baby 22: **Thanks and thanks.

**Barbie: **Thanks, and you'll have to see. :)

* * *

><p>Thanks to my beta <strong>rowanoak5<strong>!

* * *

><p><strong>Week 14: January 24-January 30<strong>

* * *

><p>"Have a good day love," Draco said the next morning, bidding Hermione goodbye outside the fireplace.<p>

"You too," she responded sleepily. Although Malfoy was being sweet that morning, she could hardly focus on him. Her eyelids threatened to close, exhaustion coursing through her. Her mind had been spinning all night, thinking about that necklace again. The morning had brought nothing but irritation to her regarding Draco. She was peeved that he was keeping this seemingly important secret from her for weeks on end. "See you tonight." She kissed him quickly on the cheek, grabbed some Floo powder and departed.

Draco watched her go, wrinkling his eyebrows together. _That was strange. _

Not twenty minutes later though, he was relaxed on the couch, watching some strange muggle show he couldn't relate to, his mind a million miles away. She had acted strange, even a bit tense. Whatever could be bothering her?

_That damn necklace. _He remembered clearly waking up sometime in the night, listening to her mutter about the piece of jewelry and its meaning, obviously stumped. She was thinking too much about the topic, and he wished she weren't focused on it at all. That was a conversation he never wanted to have. How the hell was he ever going to explain that without completely scaring the witch?

He groaned. Complications, there were always complications.

It was complicated keeping the secret of the necklace and its dark nature from her, but the idea of telling her was far scarier. She would probably hate him, or at least hex him, and life would be far less enjoyable afterwards.

Sighing, he looked over at the kitten sound asleep across the room, sound asleep. Hermione loved the deranged feline, for reasons which baffled him. Her eyes had sparkled upon seeing it, and he had felt a surge of happiness knowing her joy was due to his actions.

Perhaps that's how he would get her out of her foul mood... No more kittens, god no, but if he took her out to dinner, someplace relaxed but romantic in its own way, it may calm her some. Granger may not be like other girls, but girls loved a romantic act here and there, right?

He stood, picking up his discarded pack of cigarettes and headed towards his bedroom. He found the mobile phone sitting on the bedside table, and flipped it open quickly, nearly regretting his choice. He dialed the number.

* * *

><p>Hermione slept well that night. Her outings with Draco seemed to be becoming a routine; they went to dinners in places she had never been, in all types of different atmospheres. Yet the reporters never missed sighting them, and she knew there would be yet another article in Witch Weekly about their most recent sweet little date.<p>

"_You don't have to take me everywhere you know."_

_He reached over and took her hand, kissing it once. "I love taking you places. It gives me a chance to show you off."_

_She rolled her eyes. "You're turning into a sap, you know that?"_

_He smirked. "I've noticed, yet I can't help myself. I blame you woman."_

_She giggled, rolling her eyes as she sipped her drink. "Of course you do."_

_They sat under a tree in a park in France, people looking at them every chance they got. Hermione had been reluctant to accept his invitation simply because of how open the location was, but she couldn't help herself. This was different from their other dates, and she loved it. Besides, Blaise and Theo were distracting people off to each side._

_She smiled. How had Malfoy ever come across such great friends? She suspected she would never know._

_He took her hand, and Hermione's mind was brought back to the present. His deep silver eyes stared at her, emotions out in the open. She could see admiration there, despite the fact that Hermione Granger had believed Draco Malfoy could never admire anyone but himself._

_No, that wasn't right. Hermione had come to terms with Draco's change of heart towards people in general weeks ago. Being in close proximity to someone who was supposedly cold was terrifying. How was she to react when he openly showed her of all people such emotion? It would take time to understand all of this, she realized._

"_You look so beautiful tonight."_

_She smiled. "Don't compliment me just to get something."_

_He shook his head. "Never again Granger," he replied softly, causing her to lift an eyebrow. "You don't have to do anything for me if you don't want to." He leaned in and kissed her, her confused mind spinning in all directions._

_What was that supposed to mean?_

Hermione was terribly confused about Draco's behavior on their outing... well, date if she absolutely had to categorize it. It was still a bit odd to say "date" in the same sentence as "Malfoy".

Despite her curiosity on his behavior, she was exhausted from the day as a whole, and fell asleep soon after their return around 8.

But Draco didn't. He sat in bed for nearly two hours, studying her closely, lovingly, gazing at the necklace every few minutes.

It was still blood red, which was a good sign. Yet terribly bad.

The magic would die soon, and then he would have to redo the entire process again or simply let the amulet loose its worth. He loved knowing where she was, how she was feeling, and if she was alright. But there was really only one word for that.

Possessive. It would be best to let the magic die, he knew. But he couldn't stand the thought of not knowing if she was alright. With Astoria butting in recently, he didn't trust the little bitch to stay away from Hermione, and cause further harm. No, he needed to know she was alright until Astoria calmed down.

The magic had a month left, a month and a half if he was lucky. Then, if he planned to redo the process, he would have to explain the situation to Hermione to even get close to the necklace-his own necklace! No, there was no easy way out of this, no solution he liked.

Sighing, he gently reached out and wrapped an arm around her, feeling her snuggle in unconsciously closer. He would miss this.

There were going to be a lot of sleepless nights from here on out. One way or the other, this relationship would crumble. Either his question would scare her off, or the necklace would finish the job.

He wanted to scream. Why had he never thought about this in the beginning? When there was time to fix the mess? Why hadn't he just been able to focus!

Hermione should've never been a choice to begin with. He should've been able to control his lust towards her from the beginning, instead of teasing her and baiting her like something to catch. He was in too deep with her now though, he realized, from the moment he had started concerning himself with her personal problems. From the moment he had questioned her about her first "attack".

_Her shirt was slightly torn and her jeans had dirt smears on them. The strap on her purse had been snapped off on one side and she carried it in one dirty hand. She tried to scurry past him but he intersected her, grabbing her arm gently and touching the blossoming bruise on her cheek._

_"What the hell happened to you?"_

_"Nothing," she said with a soft sniff. "I was just about to go and freshen up-"_

_"Freshen up," he said, turning her head from left to right to check for other marks. Again he saw the tear streaks on her cheeks. "You need a bath first and foremost, after you tell me what the hell happened."_

_"A small misinterpretation is all, I'm fine."_

_"People who are fine Granger don't come home looking like you." He tilted her head back, seeing the gentle red blood coming from a small cut. "Let me-"_

_"No! No, I'm fine Draco, just let me clean myself up, please."_

_He looked her dead in the eyes. "What kind of trouble did you bring back?"_

_"None! Its been dealt with."_

If he hadn't felt so inclined to help her, maybe his affections wouldn't have grown. Now there was no turning back. He was in love with her, _fuck_, he wanted to ask her to marry him, but it would never happen in time. His father's curse would ensure that something about his life would become fucked, no matter what he did now.

_Money or Granger?_

_Well the answer to that is quite simple really, Granger._

He sighed. He'd choose her over the money any day, he'd choose to keep her any day, but that meant letting go of the easy life he was comfortable with, probably forever.

And letting go would begin with the ring. He couldn't hold onto it anymore, it would just keep driving that insane hope into his mind that she would say yes so quickly.

He glanced at the clock. It was nearly three in the morning. He yawned, looking at her one more time, his eyes moving down to the necklace.

_I wonder what pushed her to wear it; she had no real reason to back then, did she?_

He traced the necklace, knowing it would have no real effect. As of now, he'd wait for the magic to die. He couldn't do it to her again, he just couldn't. That necklace was too invasive and he was finished.

The necklace's magic would die, and the ring would disappear.

Maybe he had a chance with Hermione after all. _Just take things slow Draco, nice and slow._

* * *

><p>Tuesday Draco said goodbye to Hermione from bed, utterly exhausted, and she left for work that morning in a slightly confused mood. Had he not slept at all?<p>

She managed however, to push any concerns for him from her mind for the better part of her day, until a familiar student walked up to her desk, another newspaper clasped in his hand.

"Good morning Derek," she said cheerfully, having relaxed into the pattern of her day.

He propped his elbows on her desk, looking at her evenly. "I heard you're our new Ancient Ruins teacher next year."

"Indeed I am," she replied with a smile.

"And that Malfoy git is going to be the Potions teacher?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Yes, certainly are related to Pansy."

He nodded. "Yes, she certainly turned away from him _romantically_." Before she could question him, he continued on. "I think she's going to come visit you today anyways."

"Oh? And why would that be?"

He shrugged. "How the bloody hell should I know? I ran into her downstairs earlier, and she said she just had to check up on something before coming to see you."

_Interesting. _"Well, thank you for the warning Derek."

He nodded, finally setting the newspaper down on her desk. "You had another outing."

She raised an eyebrow. "I'm an adult Derek, I'm allowed to go on outings all I want."

"But with Malfoy this time," he replied, pointing to a picture of her and Draco in the park. "Isabel showed me another one of you two kissing in the street."

"You're very interested in the relationship Draco and I share, aren't you," she questioned.

He shrugged. "Isabel never shuts up about it. I at least want to know if any of its true." He pushed the paper towards her, but she waved it off.

"Thanks, but I don't feel the need to read anything out of Witch Weekly," she said simply, looking at the newspaper name. "Rita can't write an ounce of truth anyways."

Derek nodded. "Whatever you say."

She raised a second eyebrow. "You should be in class."

"I'd rather not be. Herbology is terribly boring."

"Hey! One of my best friends teaches that class!"

He shrugged.

"Just get to class."

"Fine, bye Granger."

"Miss Granger."

"Sure." He turned and departed, annoyed that the girl wasn't willing to help him avoid class any longer. On his way out he walked into Pansy.

"Derek? What're you doing, you have class!"

"Oi, can anyone focus on anything else," he muttered, pushing past her.

_Oi Derek. _Pansy ignored her distant cousin, walking straight onward towards the library where she knew Hermione worked. Upon entering, she scanned the room and instantly noticed the girl standing on her toes to put a book away. _Magic girl, magic!_

"I like the hair Granger," Pansy said as Hermione turned to go back to her desk. "Its far more becoming."

Startled, Hermione whipped her head around to be met by the cool gaze of Pansy Parkinson. "What're you doing here," she asked without even a pleasant introduction. "That... relative of yours mentioned that you would be coming up here."

"Hmm, Derek? Yes, he saw me downstairs earlier."

"And what are you doing here then? I never expected to see you at Hogwarts again."

Pansy's face screwed up a bit. "I'm doing you a favor."

"Oh?"

She sighed, leaning against a nearby bookcase, the action reminding Hermione eerily of Draco. It was strange to look at two remarkably different people and notice these similarities like their cool expressions and relaxed demure. It was almost unsettling. "Astoria's probably going to have another go at you."

Hermione sighed. "Yes, I had suspected that. Your friend is quite batty."

Pansy frowned. "We're not friends. I speak with Daphne every day. I simply hear about the pointless trouble her youngest sister is always causing." She looked at the Gryffindor in front of her for a moment thoughtfully. "Astoria apparently didn't like her letter of rejection from the old bat upstairs and came to see her personally. It didn't go well, I ended up coming to get her with Daphne." Pansy shook her head. "Some people can never get over the past."

Hermione nodded. "I can understand that," she muttered, looking elsewhere but the girl. "Thanks for the warning Parkinson."

She nodded once, looking over at the strange girl who was trying to ignore her. "Yeah. I just assumed if Draco found out both I and Daphne knew and didn't say anything, he'd get quite angry. He's got a protective streak with you."

Hermione smiled slightly at the mention of that. It was very true indeed. "Yes, he does."

Pansy nodded, pushing herself off the bookcase. "I'll alert Draco of Astoria's temper on the way home. She may not be the best witch out there, but if she wants something she's sure to try and get it. Trust me, she's been attempting to snatch up Draco for years."

Hermione looked over, one eyebrow raised. "Years? Why did I never see anything when I first came? Seems a little weird Parkinson."

Pansy rolled her eyes. "You obviously never read the Daily Prophet. It was all over the place."

Hermione shook her head. "There were many months of my life-years really-where I didn't have the time to look through the paper. What am I missing then?"

Pansy didn't question Hermione's reply. She'd been to the court hearing, she'd heard everything about the girl's past, and it wasn't pretty. "Mrs. Greengrass died back in November. It was terrible really. Daphne never looked quite so broken."

Hermione's eyebrow went up again. "And Astoria?"

Pansy shrugged. "Astoria seemed only mildly bothered, if you can believe that. I've known the girl for years, and I had never seen her quite as cold and careless as the day she found out her mother was gone. It was almost as though she didn't care at all. But that kept her preoccupied for several months, which is why you were spared seeing her at first. I think that might be why Draco decided to make such sudden moves on you."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "He made moves all right," she muttered. "He simply wanted to bed me for weeks."

Pansy smirked, and Hermione again thought of the similarities between her and Draco. "Draco fucked everyone for a while dear. But according to what I heard from Blaise over that span of weeks, he stopped bringing girls home."

She snorted, and Pansy crinkled her nose at the action. "He stopped because it wasn't worth being interrupted each night."

Pansy shook her head. "You're naive."

"Oh?"

"Draco even turned me down, and I don't mean to sound cocky, but we had been fuck buddies for several years. He's had a few spaced out roommates, all girls, and he never pushed me back out the door because of them. You're very different. If he didn't have feelings for you, he would've kept bringing girls home no matter how you felt."

Hermione took in her words. She thought back to the encounter, when Pansy had appeared at the apartment.

_"Drakie!" Pansy threw her arms around his neck, her once shrill voice having softened, although it made her no less annoying then before._

_"Pansy," Draco hisses, wishing to pull the girl off of him. "What're you doing here?"_

_"I was hoping for a quick shag before work," she hissed._

_"Although it would be interesting, I'm afraid I'm bound to another party. I'm not jeopardizing anything for some quick little thing."_

_"But Dr-"_

_"No buts. That's our deal, its been in place for two years. Deal with it."_

She shook her head. She remembered that day alright. Seeing Pansy again for the first time in several years had been quite a surprise that morning, after all. "Draco also kept defending me like a girlfriend for weeks, thank you."

She shook her head. "Don't you realize it at all?"

"Realize what?"

Parkinson dropped her jaw a bit, staring. "You honestly haven't realized he's in love with you?" She shook her head. "You may be smart, but you're blind to love."

Hermione blinked. "Love? I think you're mistaken, we've been dating for too short a while for him to be in love with me."

She continued to shake her head. "Look closer Granger, and you'll see it. Trust me, I'm doing you a favor. Malfoy may mask his feelings to you, but to his friends, its clear what's racing through his mind."

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but she continued. "Anyways, I best be off Granger. I have to go back to Daphne's and see how her sister is. I swear, the girl absolutely hates you."

"I've noticed."

Pansy nodded. "Bye Granger," she said, turning and waving behind her. "Study Draco's actions with a closer eye."

Hermione watched the Slytherin go. Hermione decided she simply had to be fibbing, there was no way that Draco had fallen in love so very quickly. There was just no way!

_Still, I think I'll take her advice about _watching_ him more closely. Just in case I'm missing something that big._

* * *

><p><em>You've got to be kidding me! I pay you 10 galleons a week to watch the bitch, and you haven't found out anything good? Get closer to her boy, I have a plan!<em>

Derek rolled his eyes and tossed the parchment aside onto the floor. He was alone just then in his dorm room, everyone else down at dinner, including Miss Granger.

He groaned. Working for Astoria had seemed easy at first, feeding her useless information that could be classified as nothing but gossip. Now she was pestering way too much. Its not like he could just go up and ask her _anything_, that would be too suspicious.

Besides, Granger was pretty hot, especially for a librarian. He didn't want to upset her.

_I also don't really want to piss off that Malfoy boyfriend of hers. _He may have never been that close to any Malfoys, but he knew he didn't wish to be on their bad sides. _They're powerful. _That's what Isabel had once told him.

He shook his head. Astoria Greengrass seemed obsessed to him, both because of what he read in her letters as well as Granger's accounts of the girl.

_Well, I guess Greengrass is someone I won't be assisting again. Best to get out of her deal now, fuck her over when she seems the most desperate for help. _He smirked, a trademark Slytherin habit, and flicked his wand at the letter, watching it quickly tear itself apart.

_There, now it's all taken care of._

* * *

><p>Hermione hadn't told Draco about Astoria's outburst at Hogwarts like she had promised Pansy she would. There really was no reason to. Whatever Astoria threw at Hermione, she could throw it right back.<p>

After a night of semi-restful sleep, Hermione awoke and showered with Draco, too distracted to have any fun while in there with him. She left rather quickly afterwards, leaving him to silently ponder what he'd done wrong.

_Perhaps something happened she won't tell me about... wouldn't be the first time. _He shook his head. There was no reason to jump to conclusion like that.

He sat on the couch, still thinking over things. What was bothering her?

He shook his head again. No, he had other things to think about. He had given up his deadline, accepting that he simply couldn't win. Who would've ever thought, a Malfoy giving up on something as simple as a girl.

_That's the thing though. She's not simple. _He ran a hand through his hair. No, she had never been simple.

Standing, he headed to the cabinets and pulled out a bottle of tequila and poured himself just one shot. He needed to stay focused, after all. The deadline might be gone but that didn't change his goal in the long run.

* * *

><p>Hermione and Draco slept well that night. Thursday came and went, nothing eventful happening on either side. By nine both were happily full of food, lounging on the sofa.<p>

"You eat more then anyone I've ever met," he muttered.

"Then you've obviously never seen Ron or Harry eat," she replied back, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

He flipped his head around and their lips connected. What Hermione had planned on being a simple kiss quickly became rather heated. Draco ran his tongue over her lips, demanding entrance and she gave it to him, enjoying the tingle of his tongue against hers.

Draco pulled her closer to him on the couch, Hermione's arms instantly locking around his neck, her fingers playing with his hair. His hands rested around her waist, until one snuck beneath her t-shirt and moved upwards to the back of her bra.

She gasped slightly into his mouth as he unhooked the garment, breaking their kiss to pull both her shirt and bra off her body, releasing her breasts to him. Her nimble fingers quickly attacked the buttons of his shirt, undoing each in a frenzy, pulling the cloth from his muscular body.

His lips attacked hers again, and he knocked her back onto the couch, their legs stretching out behind them. Chest to chest, they continued to kiss passionately, Draco's erection painfully obvious to them both.

As Draco's kisses moved from her lips to her collarbone, Hermione marveled at the difference between their first sexual experience and this one that was about to happen.

_"I was...I was experimenting Draco."_

_"Quite the experiment," he mused. "Gone a little overboard with it I think to call it an experiment." She bit her lip, and he rested his forehead on hers. The action did nothing at all to help his current state. "What do you want me to do Hermione? Stop?"_

_"No!"_

_"Drat," she thought. "I must stop doing that."_

_"Then tell me what to do to you." He kissed her cheek._

_But is that really a good idea Hermione? "Draco..." She hesitated. His thoughts on her could drop severely if she just let him do this to her, couldn't they? What if he didn't care about her after she gave in? Was Draco like that?_

_No, she didn't think so. And she certainly hoped not._

_"Tell me."_

_"I..."-deep breaths Hermione-"I want you to take my virginity." Couldn't have made that sound better could you? Stop delaying!_

_He was rather surprised she came out with it. "Hmm. Are you sure about that?"_

_"Yes."_

That experience had been a very frightening and a very new one for her, and there hadn't been an ease in her movements that there was now. As Draco's lips circled around one of her nipples, his opposite hand kneading her other breast, she moaned.

She wasn't afraid of reacting this time, and it made it all the more enjoyable for both parties.

Her body rocked against his a bit as he teased her opposite nipple, flicking it with his tongue and watching her expression. She whimpered, causing him to smirk.

"You just want it badly tonight don't you."

She bit her lip, nodding.

Still smirking, he parted his lips and took her second nipple into his mouth, biting gently enough on it to not cause extreme pain, but enough to get the reaction he wanted. She moaned loudly again, gripping his arm.

He pulled back, smirking at her as he leaned onto one arm next to her, the couch barely big enough to allow him to do so, and stared down at her, his hand gliding across her stomach, headed southward. She knew what he was aiming for, and raised her hips slightly to allow him access.

His smirk grew at her eagerness, placing his fingers just above her clit, grinning at her. She frowned.

"That's mean."

He clicked his tongue. "On the contrary, I think its quite fair. You've hardly touched me tonight love."

She raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "Oh? And what're you going to do about that then?"

He leaned down and whispered into her ear, "Let me show you."

* * *

><p>Hermione was pleasantly sore in the morning. They had made passionate love last night, right there on the couch, to the horror of her poor cat.<p>

She kissed him on the cheek as she grabbed her things, the lazy bloke still lying in bed. "Remember, we get to go visit my parents tonight."

He groaned. "Can't we just fake an illness or something?"

"I wont have you avoiding my parents dear Draco," she said rolling her eyes. "We're going out to dinner, so that gives you plenty of time to try and wake up."

He grunted.

* * *

><p>As far as Draco knew, you were supposed to enjoy your Friday nights. But that Friday, January 28, was a day he severely disliked.<p>

Hermione had dragged him back to her parents' house, greeting them warmly while her father greeted him coolly, before heading out to some muggle restaurant.

To say it was uncomfortable would be a major understatement.

Hermione and her mother were making small talk, occasionally dragging Draco or Frank in, but for the most part the table was remarkably quiet, besides the few times the waiter had come over.

Now, the married couple on one side of the table, the two young adults on the other, conversation had ceased entirely. The four ate in silence, exchanging looks. Jean Granger continuously glanced from her husband to Draco to Hermione, watching the three curiously. It was obvious to anyone in the restaurant where the real tension was.

Frank Granger continuously glared at Draco, not sparing anyone else a glance. He seemed to truly hate the boy, although Jean thought he was the first decent man Hermione had brought home in years. Draco would glare back coolly, as though only trying to egg on Frank, occasionally breaking eye contact to glance at his girlfriend. Hermione would occasionally look between the two men, obviously irritated with their childish behaviors.

By the time the four left the restaurant to head back to the Granger's, the tension had only increased and put Hermione in a sour mood. Why couldn't her father try to act nice to Draco? Why did Draco take the bait and act like an annoyed git?

"Would anyone like some tea," Jean asked as everyone stepped through the door, taking off their coats.

"Yes mom," Hermione said, following the older woman to the kitchen.

"Yes dear," Frank Granger replied, while Draco declined the drink and received an angry look from the man. "Draco," Frank continued as the young Malfoy made to go to the kitchen, "a word?"

_Damn, and I thought I'd actually have a talk-free night with you. _He turned back and followed the man back up the stairs reluctantly, to a much different room this time.

Frank pushed open the door and stepped back, letting Draco walk in first.

It was a young girls room, decorated in blue, with a window seat and a small, clean bed. There was a small white desk, and an oak bookcase overfilled with books. It was defiantly a Hermione room, but designed with someone younger then the age of 21 in mind. This was an old set-up, he realized. Something that had been left alone possibly for years.

Frank walked into the room and stood beside him, looking at the bookcase. "She only ever used to want books you know."

Draco nodded once, puzzled, and waited for him to continue. "I don't quite know when I lost her, when those boys started tearing her away and poisoning her mind, but it's been years since she hasn't been haunted."

Draco knew that all too well, and wasn't too keen on having the memories of her fragile, broken body crushed to him, her shattered mind working to repair itself in the comfort of his home. True, it had led to a breathtaking relationship, but it also made him see red to remember everything Weasley and Flint had done to her.

"I have noticed."

Frank Granger turned his gaze on Draco, his brown eyes alive with anger. "I told you once, Mr. Malfoy, that I've seen my daughter be broken by the men she has chosen. Don't break her, please." Draco was surprised to hear the final word snuck into his statement, like the plea of a hopeless man, trying to hide his fear. "Don't be the rest of them."

"As I've assured you before Mr. Granger, I have no intention of harming her. Why would I save her from her exes only to turn on her and repeat their actions?" Frank shrugged. "I'm not that cruel Mr. Granger, despite my actions during school. There is never a good reason to hurt a girl."

"No," he said quietly. "there never is." He looked around the room, remembering his daughter when she was young, before Hogwarts and all the magic. "Take care of her."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you just telling me in more or less words that you don't trust me? Now you're telling me to take care of her?"

"I highly doubt I will ever truly trust you, even if you never end up like the other men. There are too many memories of my daughter in pain to ever trust a male with her again."

"_For_ever is a long time you know."

He shrugged. "Then prove me wrong Mr. Malfoy. If you're so very confident that you will never hurt her, then I hope you keep to your promise. I can't control my daughter anymore, that much she proved years ago. I can only hope now that what I'm saying to you isn't going into careless ears." The older man looked at Draco sternly. "Even if you two don't end up together, you better always treat her right."

Frank Granger turned and hurried out of the room before Draco could open his mouth.

* * *

><p>Despite the fact that Hermione tried multiple times that night to get Draco to tell her about his conversation with her father, he refused. He simply kept saying he had to think about it before saying anything out loud.<p>

Which was true.

Frank wanted him to treat his daughter right, yet he couldn't stand Draco in the least bit. For a second he had practically begged Draco to be good to her, and the next minute was threatening him if he didn't. To Draco, it seemed like a very confusing conversation. But the main point got through to him.

Frank Granger didn't like Draco Malfoy and never would, but he also wouldn't try to ruin Hermione's relationship so long as Draco didn't do anything out of line.

A father's concern was like nothing else on the planet.

Draco vaguely wondered how that felt.

* * *

><p>Saturday the 29 passed quickly. Draco and Hermione spent the day at home, talking about nothing really, watching some more movies that Hermione owned. It was one of their "Dates", if you could call it that. Although Hermione did prefer these indoor dates more, simply because there was no one to sit there and pry, watching their every move. At least in the flat there was privacy.<p>

Sunday followed in about the same way, except for the unexpected call around 3 from Draco's best friend.

"Yes Blaise?"

"Potter and the redhead finally ended it," Blaise said happily through the phone. "Took them long enough."

Blaise's happiness didn't go unnoticed by his friend. Due to their previous conversation concerning Ginny Weasley, Draco didn't need further explanation. "Didn't they do that already?"

"Yes, but now its 'official'. I honestly don't know why it wasn't before. But ain't that great man?"

"Yes, now at least when you meet up with the bitch it wont make her look worse to the public."

"Don't be a dick, I haven't called Granger a whore or anything."

Draco sighed. "Be careful with that girl Blaise. Look what happened to her and Potter. Don't set yourself up for the same situation."

"I wont," Blaise replied, annoyed. "You're fantastic at killing a mood Malfoy."

"Yes, I've been known for that. Just don't get in too deep with that girl too quickly."

"And you're one to talk? You want to marry the witch you've been dating for a month! I couldn't possibly rush things faster then that!"

Draco snorted. "No, I suppose not."

"Any headway in that area, by the way?"

Draco sighed again. "I've given up. The deadline is too close, it'll never work. I'll settle with getting her someday, just not yet. She'd never agree this early."

"Seems you've finally come to your senses. I wish you luck man. We need to talk sometime, in person."

"We do. I will phone you sometime this week or next."

"You better fucker."

Draco chuckled. "I see we're returning to your school words."

Blaise snorted this time. "Hardly."

* * *

><p><strong>Review please! The reviews have dropped since chapter one by more then half, I'm hoping they'll pop back up at some point :) Maybe this chapter?<strong>


	6. Week 15

**a/n: **I know I know, I've been gone for a few weeks, but I'm back now with what I think is a fairly interesting chapter. I apologize for the delay, but I've been clearing out my grandma's home and I've had a severe case of writers block. Anyways, I'm back now and hopefully going to update regularly again!

Please note: I do **not **have a beta anymore, the one I did have got too busy and can't edit for me anymore. So yes, there will be errors in here again. If you are severely bothered, then offer to edit it for me. I've done a bit of editing, but I'm no pro at it, so I apologize in advance. And again, **if your interested in being my beta, contact me!**

But overall, I hope you enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>Eric: <strong>The necklace will be explained, in time...

**Barbie: **It was.

**I vIsItEd DrAcO lAsT nIgHt: **I'm not quite sure how many more chapters I'll have, but probably about 5.

**Jelisha Baby 22: **Ah, the necklace again! In due time, I promise!

**HadBeen: **A little shit? Lol, we'll see. And yes, there might be a few more flashbacks coming your way...

**They Call Me Ginger: **I will!

**readingismypassion: **The blood? Oh dear, that will be explained soon enough...

**Erika: **Hmm, we'll see...

**joy johnson: **No worries, I don't plan on stopping!

**Hooker: **Good to hear!

**Lea: **I plan to!

* * *

><p><strong>Week 15: January 31 to February 6<strong>

* * *

><p>Astoria Greengrass sat in her family's mansion Monday the 31st, gazing out at the green landscape before her. So many years ago, back at the beginning of her schooling, Pansy Parkinson had run with her and Daphne out there, talking about boys and the Balls their families would host.<p>

How things had changed.

After the death of the girls' mother, the Greengrass Balls had stopped entirely, although Astoria had only been thirteen herself when the last Ball was hosted. Pansy Parkinson had long since stopped being her friend, and Daphne had stopped caring.

Apparently, obsession bothered the two elder girls.

During her fifth year, it had started. She remembered the event clearly, in the same way she now hoped he did. They dated for three short days, but with her ever-growing crush on the boy two years her senior, it felt like a lifetime; a dream.

Until he had ended it.

She remembered his quick end to the relationship, saying that he had other things to deal with and she was dead weight. It hurt and pushed her emotions into the ground, but she had picked herself up quickly and resumed a normal life. After all, Draco Malfoy had been very strange all through fifth year.

Now, years later, she knew why. If the Dark Lord himself had been speaking to her, making drastic plans for her, she wouldn't have quite been herself either. So she blamed his harsh words on events at the time and moved on. She had even felt like she was completely over the blond by her sixth year.

Until she ran into Marcus Flint back in November. She had been walking through muggle London to acquire a new dress from one of the most prestigious dress makers in London - something she only did on rare occasions. After leaving the dress store with her new garment, she had walked headlong into Flint.

_"Watch it." He shoved her over and continued walking. She had frowned, collected herself and rightened her hat to block off the cool air before turning around to glare at him._

_"Excuse me? You ran into me you daft twit."_

_He had turned back, teeth jutting out a bit awkwardly and leered at her. "If you weren't taking up half of the damn walkway, I wouldn't have run into you in the first place!"_

_She had looked at him a moment, for some reason thinking about an article she had read in the Daily Prophet sometime last year. "You're Flint, right?"_

_He had raised an eyebrow and taken two intimidating steps forward. "And if I am?"_

_She shrugged. "I read an article about you once, in the Daily Prophet. You married that Golden Trio girl... Granger, right?"_

_His eyes had darkened at the mere mention of her name and his voice had dropped to a much lower tone. "Have you seen her?"_

"_Me? Merlin no! I've never associated with any of those Gryffindors from school." She narrowed her eyes. "I think you were at school when my sister attended... you were an older Slytherin I believe." Her eyes suddenly widened as she considered her own sentence. "And you've married a Gryffindor! What is the matter with-"_

"_I've never let school differences determine my life in the real world. Don't start insulting my wife." He took a step back and glared at her. "If you see Hermione, make sure she calls her husband. I'm worried sick."_

That encounter had seemed extremely odd and strangely planned to Astoria in the days to follow. If she hadn't seen Granger in years, why on earth would she tell her to call him if she saw the girl? Besides, Marcus Flint wasn't someone she knew well either. It was a miracle she even recognized him from the article at all.

Shortly after running into Marcus, she overheard Pansy Parkinson speaking to her sister, talking all about Blaise's story of Hermione being there at Malfoy's. Obviously, from the way Pansy re-counted everything like a dirty secret, it wasn't something that was supposed to be widely known. She learned weeks later that Blaise hadn't told her so much as she had overheard him speaking with Draco on a muggle device.

After listening to the conversation, her curiosity had spiked, and her jealousy had skyrocketed. How long had it been since she had thought of Draco Malfoy romantically? Several years until that moment. Oh she very well knew about his long line of one night stands and his purely-sexual open-relationship with Pansy. Yet none of that had ever really bothered her, never really made her blood boil until she caught wind of the rumor that he was with a Mudblood of all people!

So she had gone to investigate the two, having located Draco's address in Astoria's room, courtesy of Pansy's snooping around Blaise's home. Pansy and Blaise may have a mutual friendship but Pansy was purely Slytherin; she was purely manipulative and a gossip. Address in hand, she had walked her happy self directly into Malfoy's building and snooped around, sitting at the end of the hallway with a disillusionment spell on herself.

Twenty minutes later, Granger had walked directly past her and down the hallway, towards Malfoy's door. Her clothes had been torn, and she was lightly bleeding. In Astoria's fury that the little bitch was living with Draco, she hadn't even started to consider why the bushy haired know-it-all looked so awful at that moment.

She returned a few times over the next few weeks, to see if things changed. Occasionally Draco had come out, paused by her location, and kept going. Hermione only left that room one other time.

The really startling appearance at that door though was Ginny Weasley and Marcus Flint. He disappeared a minute later, along with his dog, before Ginny knocked. That day, many people had come in and out.

One day Draco stopped right in front of her and shook his head. _"You're not very good at monitoring your breathing. I can only imagine the amount of muggles who have walked by and been utterly confused by the sounds coming from this corner. Tell me though, how long do you plan on staking my home out?"_

_Astoria hadn't answered, but had tried to soften her breathing, hoping he would believe that she wasn't around anymore and go away. However, he leaned against the door and fixed his gaze directly on her, obviously sure that she remained. "You never were the best wizard Astoria, but I would hope even you could handle a simple spell like this. Accio wand."_

_Caught off guard, she didn't try to snatch her wand immediately after he spoke, and instead let her wand fly from her robes into his palm. Once he felt the piece of wood land in his hand, he muttered something under his breath, and both the wand and Astoria herself appeared in the hall. She scowled up at him and stood, dusting herself off._

"_Greengrass."_

"_Draco." She sneered at him. "I see you have a new roommate there. Or is she something more?"_

_He rolled his eyes. "Don't start that again Astoria, its been years, we aren't in school anymore, we're adults now and its time you begin acting like one."_

_She pouted, an action so very Pansy-like that he seemed to shudder. "But what would have happened Malfoy, had the circumstances been different?"_

_He raised an eyebrow. "What? You mean no one ever told you?"_

"_Told me what?"_

_He had laughed cruelly, then shook his head. "Whatever your sister thought she would gain by not telling you this is about to come crashing down. She paid me ten galleons for a few days of my time to appease your crush on me. Being tied to Voldemort just allowed me a simpler way out."_

_Her face fell. "Excuse me?"_

_He shrugged. "I agreed because I hoped you would leave me alone, and its worked up until now. So what exactly changed, Greengrass?"_

_She stared at him. "How did you know it was me?" she asked changing the subject._

_He smirked and her heart skipped a beat. "Blaise told me. He confronted Pansy a few days ago about why Daphne had asked him how Granger and I were doing, when she shouldn't have known in the first place. He figured out that people had been spying, and that was perfectly fine that those two knew. Of course, erasing their memories did wonders."_

_She opened her mouth to say something, but he continued speaking. "But I noticed something out of place besides that. There had been a presence out here the last several days, I noticed it each time I passed. At first, I assumed I was losing my mind a bit. But the apartments been secure for a while now, so I had no worries. But neither Daphne nor Pansy had any answers when I asked them about hanging outside here, so then I began to think about who else it could possibly be."_

_Again, she opened her mouth, but he raised his voice slightly, talking over her. "I ran through a list of names, but no one seemed very likely. No one, until I came to yours. Pansy is always over at your mansion, always hanging around her best friend, and you were always too nosy for your own good. I just put two and two together." He leaned closer to her. "Would you like to tell me why you have been out here for days?"_

_She pursed her lips. "I wanted to see if Pansy's gossip was true."_

"_Oh, I think its more than that. I think that you got your evidence the first day you were here. But I wonder, why did you stay around?"_

"_Its none of your concern."_

"_You're outside my apartment watching my movements. Its entirely my concern."_

_She shrugged. "I'll leave you be then." She quickly turned to leave, before flipping her head around. "You could've told me!"_

"_And gotten my head bit off? I value my life Greengrass."_

_Her eyes watered lightly, finally understanding the reasoning behind her short relationship with Draco. "Just wait Draco, wait until I really find a way to hurt you like you've hurt me."_

"_Over a relationship that we hardly had when you were barely thirteen?"_

_She shook her head. "For letting me always believe I had a chance. For making me wait for years for something I thought I may have a chance of having! I always wanted you Malfoy."_

"_Your chance passed a long time ago."_

_She shook her head. "Its funny. I haven't thought about you in years, until recently. Now, I'm stuck in this emotional lapse again. I've even known about your fling with Pansy, and that didn't effect me. But lowering your standards to a Mudblood? Sick!"_

_He shook his head. "Don't wallow then. Move on with your life."_

_She shook her head. "Like I said, just you wait Malfoy. You won't have her. If you can cause my pain I'll cause yours. Accio Wand!" It landed lightly in her hand and she apparated away before he could say another word._

Draco's words had hurt. Not only had he never felt anything for her, but she had been betrayed by her sister as well she felt. She was angry, and hurt by them both, and felt she had few people left to turn to.

And knowing that he fancied that Mudblood more then he ever had herself or any other pureblood, made it worse. It was like everything had been thrown into her face.

She wanted payback on Hermione, who had everything she wanted. She wanted the feeling of being humiliated and played to go away.

So far, her tactics weren't working. Hermione Granger was strong and determined, and didn't back down despite her numerous attacks. Draco was careless of her feelings, just like that day in the hall, and didn't give a damn apparently how she felt so long as she left his girlfriend alone.

Fuck that.

Draco would feel her pain, since he wouldn't take her. Try as she may, that just wasn't working, and she had to accept it. That only left getting rid of Hermione Granger from his life.

How? She wasn't entirely sure yet. With a sigh, she looked past the end of her bed to the calendar there, and realized it had been several days since she had last talked with Derek. He hadn't returned her letter. _Better write to that idiot again._

She stood and made her way across her bedroom to her desk, sitting down and picking up a quill. Reaching for some parchment, a scrap of muggle paper fell out. Bored, she reached down and picked it up, prepared to toss it out until she noticed what it was.

_Draco's deadline. _Yes, it was February 28, coming up very soon.

Slowly, a sly smile spread across her face and she changed her plans, beginning a letter to Derek on different topics entirely. First Derek, then Hermione's letter.

* * *

><p>Monday passed easily for Draco and Hermione. Little happened and the two were able to relax. Tuesday, they had a fairly normal morning with Draco sending her off to work at the end.<p>

Soon after, he sat staring at the two rings; one a marriage ring, the other his connection to Hermione's necklace. He had taken out the two boxes, knowing he had no more time to dwell on things.

He needed a to-do list before the end of February, done and completely finished, before that last day when his world did a 180 in the other direction. He had the blank paper beside him, staring down at the rings to begin his list of tasks.

He wrote the first one without question: _1. Tell Hermione about the necklace._

Guilt had been building up since his decision to hide the necklace's purpose from Hermione had surfaced. Now he knew he wouldn't feel right about keeping it from her. So, somehow he needed to explain it to her, before time ran out.

Figuring out anything else to put on that list proved to be a challenge. He wasted most of the day thinking, and by 5:10 he still only had the first thing. Frustrated, he tossed both rings back into the bedside table drawer and stood, wandering into the living room to await Hermione.

She arrived home at her usual time, and Draco couldn't help but feel guilty as he looked at the necklace that lay against her chest. It was an orange now, not red.

The power was fading, and his uneasiness was growing.

* * *

><p>Tuesday, Hermione left for work, her neck feeling heavier still.<p>

Draco spent the better part of his day staring at a paper he was now finding useless. Yes, he needed to tell her about the necklace, and soon. But the 28th was slowly growing closer and he had other things to worry about. Like the Manor for one.

He ran his fingers through his hair, glancing down at Hermione's cat. The stupid feline had spent the better part of the night asleep on some of his black dress pants, which had been discarded once they entered the bedroom and he pushed her down.

_That was certainly fun. _He smiled at the memory. Memories of her, that may become all he would have left after he told her things. Things about the necklace, his magic, everything. It could all be his downfall. He just wasn't sure how she would react.

Picking up the muggle pen, he wrote number 2. _Go back to the Manor._

He sat back, tapping the pen thoughtfully against his lips. The ideas were flowing now, and he knew what he needed to do.

_3. Explain the dilemma with my inheritance._

_4. Dig up the ring. _

_5. Explain the loss of my wand to Hermione._

_6. Charm Hermione._

Draco raised an eyebrow. It sounded so very unlike him, the things listed there. The Draco Malfoy that had attended Hogwarts a few years ago would've never thought he needed to explain anything, nor would he want to charm Hermione Granger.

_How the times have changed. _

Standing, he wandered over to the front door and peered out. Months ago he had found Astoria out there, crouched down and hidden by an invisibility charm, watching his apartment. Draco vaguely wondered if she had been around the day Flint broke in.

Greengrass had been in his mind for days. Her persistence had begun to wear on his nerves, and he was pleased to see that she hadn't come around as of late. Hopefully, Daphne had said something to her and gotten through to the girl. The sooner her obsessive crush ended, the quicker his life with Hermione would go on. Until then, he would worry about the girl bothering his girlfriend, just like he had worried about Flint doing stupid things as well.

He shook his head. Why was he so scatterbrained?

_Because I'm running out of time._

* * *

><p>Hermione arrived home that night to find Draco asleep on the couch. Her cat lay asleep on his lap, unnoticed by the sleeping man.<p>

She wandered over, placing the necklace quietly on the coffee table. Taking her kitten in her arms, she nuzzled its face, causing the animal to squirm. She smiled happily, placing the grumpy cat in her lap as she looked over at Draco.

_He looks at ease whenever he sleeps._ She smiled lightly, lightly running her fingertips over his cheek, when the cat suddenly jumped onto the table and knocked off his paper.

"Darn," Hermione said, shaking her head as she bent to pick up the fallen parchment. Replacing it on the table, she noticed there was a list written there, with her name placed within the text several times. Raising an eyebrow, she read the list three times before replacing it onto the table.

_Charm Hermione? Tell Hermione about the necklace? Tell Hermione about my inheritance? Tell Hermione about my wand? The ring? What the hell is Malfoy getting at? _She looked at his face, still calm in his sleep. _What is this list for?_

Before she could consider it, Hermione pulled out her wand a blank sheet of parchment from behind the list, and magically made a copy for herself. Tucking it away into her bag, she flipped over his own paper and kissed Draco's cheek lightly, traveling towards his ear as the boy woke up.

_What are you hiding from me Draco? Whatever it is, I intend to make sense of this list._

* * *

><p>Wednesday February 2, Pansy awoke to tapping on her window. The girl rubbed sleep from her eyes, before she pushed back the warm covers and walked across her bedroom to the window, letting in the Greengrass' owl. Untying a note from the bird's leg, she quickly opened the parchment and read the note:<p>

_Pansy~_

_Contact Potter at your earliest convenience. Astoria as been wandering around the Estate a lot these past few days, and each time she enters the library she leaves with a new book on magic. She hasn't eaten for days. I'm not exactly proud of my sister right now, but I want Malfoy warned in case she tries anything stupid. I'm not sure when she snapped, but her calmness the last few days has unsettled me. There's been no ranting, no icy replies whenever I mention certain people's names, nothing. Astoria has never been one for silent loathing, and I fear she may be attempting something worse towards Granger. Please let Potter know so he can alert them. Malfoy blocked any connections to our Manor months ago. I hope Astoria doesn't cause any disturbances anymore._

_If she doesn't allow her mind to clear up soon, I may just have her committed. I worry about her Pansy, she hasn't acted _normal _in years. Let me know if anything happens._

_Oh, and how are you and Potter going, hmm?_

_~Daphne_

Pansy raised an eyebrow. Had Astoria ever really been sane? Her unhealthy obsession with Draco since fifth year couldn't be classified under normal. Shaking her head, she pulled out a clean sheet of parchment and wrote a messy note to Harry, attaching Daphne's warning underneath before going to her own bird.

Once the note to Harry had been sent off, she turned back to Daphne's owl and removed another sheet of parchment, writing a second letter.

_Daphne~_

_I just sent it off to Harry. Honestly, you could've just sent it to him. I hope Astoria comes to her senses soon enough. Perhaps she's under some sort of influence? I doubt it though; she would never do anything that could jeopardize her looks. But I think you should commit her now and get your sister some help, before she loses her mind anymore._

_Harry and I are doing fine lovely. I just don't want anyone finding out yet._

_~Pansy_

* * *

><p>It was late Wednesday night when Hermione left her work. She was walking down the corridor to go see if Neville was finished with one of her personal books he had borrowed earlier, when she turned the corner and nearly collided with someone.<p>

"Derek!" She stumbled, and the younger boy caught her shoulder, steadying her. She smiled gratefully at the boy, until she looked at his face. "Are you alright? You look rather pale."

He shrugged, letting go of her shoulder. "Do you still stay at Malfoy's?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes. _The newspapers don't even know where I live exactly. Draco's flat isn't well known. _"I'm still in the same place I have been for the past few months. Why?"

He tilted his head. "Curiosity." Reaching into his bag he produced a book and shoved it into her hands. "Mr. Longbottom asked me to give that to you, since I was headed this way."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. Neville had never really been someone who handed off things to other people to take. He always seemed to want to take care of things himself, even if he had a tendency to lose them. "Thank you Derek."

He nodded once, eyes focused behind her. "I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Granger?"

She shrugged, placing a smile on her lips. "I'm never anywhere else. But do try to stop by during your free hours, not during class."

He nodded, eyes glancing at the book. "Goodnight then." Before she could reply, he had already pushed past her, wandering down the corridor in the opposite direction. Hermione watched him for a moment, before deciding it was time to go back to the library and return to Draco's flat. She turned the corner, watching Derek disappear from sight.

As she trudged down the hall, her thoughts jumped all over the place. Derek was acting a bit strange tonight. She had never seen him so pale, or ask so few questions. Typically he drilled her about the latest article on her and Malfoy, and this time he had only asked one question.

"_Do you still stay at Malfoy's?" _Of course she still lived there! The newspapers had made a big deal out of her living situation, directly after the court case, but Derek had never asked about that. Nor had the newspapers stated _where _the couple lived, just that they lived together.

_Besides, Malfoy Manor has been empty for years, hasn't it?_

She shook her head, opening the library doors and walking directly to the fireplace.

* * *

><p>Draco twirled his wand between his fingers, watching the fireplace intently. She was late by a good 45 minutes, and his thoughts had begun to wander. Had something happened?<p>

He glanced up at the clock again just as the fireplace roared to life and Hermione stepped out.

He stopped twirling the wand, setting the thin piece of wood down. Hermione smiled pleasantly over at him, sitting down on the couch beside him with a quick peck on his cheek. Draco raised an eyebrow at the girl, crossing his arms.

"Whatever happened to you?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, still smiling. "Don't seem so upset. I had to go retrieve a book from Neville." She leaned over and placed a long, deep kiss on his lips. "Besides, I'm not always here directly at six."

He smirked. "No, I suppose not." He reached an arm around her shoulders and pulled the girl to him, rubbing her thigh. "I just get worried sometimes."

"Well don't worry," she sighed. "There's nothing to worry about."

Draco scowled then, glad that Hermione's head was against his shoulder so she couldn't see. "Don't be so sure about that Granger."

Pulling away, she met his eyes. "And why not?"

He nodded towards a letter on the table, folded up tightly. Hermione gave him a strange look, but nonetheless reached over and picked up the letter, addressed to Pansy, and scanned it quickly.

When finished, she pursed her lips. "Astoria sounds mentally insane, not a threat."

"Granger," he muttered, leaning forwards and breathing on her neck. "People who are out of their mind sometimes prove to be the scariest. I have reason enough to be worried."

But still, something didn't seem right to Draco. Yes, the Greengrass girl had always liked him way too much, but that didn't make her insane. Minus their talk in the hallway weeks ago, Malfoy hadn't had a conversation with the girl in years. He didn't know Daphne's sister anymore. For all he knew, the girl had lost her mind. Still though, she could just be obsessive, and that was no reason to commit someone.

"But at Hogwarts Draco," she asked, not looking at him. "Astoria would have to get all the way up to the library to hurt me, and even then there's typically someone there someplace throughout the day. I'm rarely alone." She shook her head, and turned to look at him, their faces inches apart. "She doesn't scare me, and she shouldn't scare you."

He rolled his eyes. "Of course she scares me! If she is obsessed with me, she's going to come after the girl I'm attached to first." Reaching up a hand, he ran it through her messy locks, half up and away from her face. "I am sick of having to worry for you all the time."

Hermione shook her head again. "If Astoria's so bloody scary she should be committed, just like her _sister _said."

Draco sighed. "Daphne won't want to do that unless its her last choice. She doesn't want to have to go visit her deranged sister in a hospital all the time. Besides, obsession doesn't qualify as insanity. Maybe she's just lost her way."

She looked away. Of course she knew _that_. She just didn't think it made any sense. If Astoria was such a threat, and had been for a long time, why hadn't someone done something already? Hermione herself hadn't thought the girl to be mentally unstable that day at the restaurant, when she slapped her in front of Blaise and made accusations. Jealous of her relationship with Malfoy yes, but not unstable.

Besides, losing your way didn't mean losing your mind!

Hermione just though Daphne was looking for something to blame her sister's anger on.

"Come on," he said, rubbing her back. "Let's focus on something else."

She raised an eyebrow and looked at him, leaning into his chest. "And what are you thinking about?"

He grinned, pushing the letter aside. He laid down, pulling Hermione on top of him. "What do you think?"

* * *

><p>Thursday and Friday passed by slowly, with Draco considering different things over those days. He had a list, and he was running out of time to consider things.<p>

By Saturday morning, he knew that he needed to tell Hermione about the necklace, that night. She had stopped wearing it entirely, saying that it felt like a brick. The color had faded drastically by then, and he knew it was time to tell her.

_Its not that bad, really. Right?_

Draco was sitting in the living room, contemplating whether or not to take Hermione out to dinner that night, while she sat in the bedroom, studying his list.

Hermione nose crinkled. He needed the list why? There wasn't anything bad really on here, from what she could tell. But if these things weren't bad, then why did he have to write out a list of things to tell her, instead of just telling her?

She sighed. What was she supposed to make of this? Hermione desperately wanted to confront him about it, but thought it might be better to wait and see. But that was hard; she wanted some answers.

Frustrated, she picked up the book Derek had returned to her yesterday. Flipping top the chapter she had last been on, she began to read when a piece of paper fell out. Frowning, she set the book aside and picked it up, looking over the contents.

_Granger,_

_Understanding that you are in a serious relationship, I believe its time to shed some light on your current state of living. At the end of this month, drastic changes will rock Mr. Malfoy's world and he will lose substantial amounts of money. Before the last day of February, I sincerely suggest that you question him about this or you will regret this relationship. _

Hermione flipped the note over once. It had no signature. She read the letter twice more, unsure what exactly she was reading, before she picked up Malfoy's checklist. Why were so many papers falling into her hands this week? Malfoy's checklist was strange, but not nearly as large of a mystery as the unsigned letter in her hand. It was far more worrying.

_He will lose substantial amounts of money. _Why would Malfoy be losing money at the end of the month? Hermione groaned, remembering Pansy's words just last week. _Study Draco's actions with a closer eye._

She shook her head. It was time to interrogate Draco.

* * *

><p>Draco walked into the bedroom around two, having dosed on the couch for a bit, to find Hermione staring off into space. He walked to the bed and snuggled in beside her, wrapping a strong arm around her, licking her ear. "What's wrong?"<p>

She flipped her head around, giving him a strange look. "What aren't you telling me?"

Draco raised an eyebrow. _I'm not telling you many things love, unfortunately. _"What do you mean?"

She huffed. "About the end of the month," she snapped, tossing a piece of paper to him. He caught it in the short distance, and scanned the contents quickly, horror pooling in the bottom of his stomach. He already had an idea who had sent it, but that wouldn't do him any good just then.

He pulled his arm off her and stood, running a hand through his hair. She watched him with a blank expression, trying to see if she could find anything off with him.

It was quite obvious he was stressing.

"Must you always ask difficult questions," he sighed.

Hermione shrugged. "You asked me questions about my past for weeks, I think its only fair that you let me do the same."

He smirked, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I knew you would say something like that."

Hermione nodded, folding her legs under her on the mattress. "So what is it Draco?"

He frowned. "How do you know this person isn't lying? The note's not signed after all." He thought about that, and opened his mouth to say something more, when Hermione spoke again.

"I'm hoping that you will tell me the truth. If the person's lying, then there's nothing to hide and you can be honest. And if you are hiding something," she continued, biting her lip, "then I would hope that you would just tell me the truth. What's going on Draco?"

He sighed, sitting down and taking both her hands in his. He kissed her knuckles, looking into her eyes as he did so. "You know I care about you right?"

She frowned. "Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

Draco smiled sadly. "Hermione, you know when my parents... became unable to use the Malfoy funds anymore, they were left to me." She nodded. "Well, my father has never forgiven me for failing to kill Dumbledore. He lost all respect for me that day."

She flinched. "I considered it as a possibility."

"Before he went to Azkaban," Draco continued, "my father had help in creating a rather difficult obstacle for me to overcome to inherit the family fortune."

Hermione frowned. "Well what could he have done? He was in a holding cell in the Ministry, he couldn't have gotten away with magic, and anyone who goes down there had to turn in their wand at the doors-"

"It wasn't a magical problem he created Hermione." Draco reached up and lightly stroked her cheek, taking in how cute she looked when she was thinking. "My father changed his will with the help of one of his friends."

She shook her head. "Weren't all of his friends Death Eaters? They would've been-"

Draco chuckled. "Do you always have to interrupt?" She bit her tongue and watched him, waiting for the blond to continue. "Just because father worked with the Dark Lord doesn't mean all his friends worked on the same side. Several wizards that I had known since childhood turned their backs on us actually and joined your side. He easily slipped down into the prison and helped my father change the will."

Hermione frowned again. "Who was it?"

"I haven't the slightest idea. The new will was owled to me when my father's sentence went through, and I could never get him to tell me who helped him change it."

"So, he changed the requirements for it?"

Draco nodded, looking straight into Hermione's eyes. He couldn't believe he was telling her this. Cupping her cheek, he spoke, "He made it a requirement that I marry before the 28 of this month, when I was 21."

Hermione stared. _Married? _Suddenly, she lurched from his touch and jumped off the bed, fists balled up. Her heartbeat picked up and her eyes grew wide as she replayed Draco's words in her head/ "He wants you to get married by the end of the month? Is that why I'm here then Draco, to make sure you get your bloody fortune!"

Malfoy glared and stood as well on the opposite side of the bed, hands raised. "You think I would've gone through all this shit with you just to get you to marry me? If I was so desperate for a wife Granger, I would've taken Astoria in the first place. But I didn't, did I?"

Her breathing came quickly. What he said definitely made sense. Astoria was obviously trying to throw herself at him and get his attention. She was an obvious choice for Lucius' requirement, yet Draco was stepping around her at every given chance. She took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. _Worry about Astoria later Hermione._ "Why," she asked in a calmer tone.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Why? Why what?"

She gestured around them. "Why now? Why didn't you tell me that you had a deadline?"

He shook his head. "I've been trying to forget. I'm not saying I ever wanted to marry out of love exactly, but I wanted to end up with someone I would care about. This world makes that difficult." Draco shrugged his shoulders, chucking. He was fighting down the panic that threatened to jump out; the fear of Hermione walking out his front door. "I've been focusing on other things; girls, jobs, friends, you, in order to not consider the issue before me. I always figured I would end up with either the money or happiness, but I could never have both Granger." He nodded towards the note then. "I had no idea how to tell you. I didn't know where to begin."

"So you kept me in the dark?" Hermione sighed. "You still should have told me Draco. Everything you did for me, all your sweet words, they could've all been to manipulate me into agreeing to marry you and save your money." Shaking her head, she took a step back and leaned against the wall.

He scowled. "Well, that's one reason I didn't tell you."

"And what were the others?" She narrowed her eyes.

Draco tiled his head slightly, watching her. Then he slowly made his way around the bed to her side. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look up at him, her brown eyes glazed over. "I didn't want you to feel like I was using you, like you do now. And I didn't want to manipulate you into marrying me so I can save the money my family has had for centuries." He gently ran a hand over her cheek. "I was just focusing on you. I've never done that before in my life Hermione."

She shook her head and closed her eyes. "And by focusing on me, you've wasted you time. You'll lose the fortune now Malfoy, since you never took Astoria up on your arm-"

He laughed hollowly. "I really don't want a clingy wife Granger." His hand still lay on her cheek, rubbing a circle on her skin. "I could never ask this of you, Hermione, that's why I haven't. You deserve more then a rushed proposal and quick marriage so we can be rich."

Hermione smiled sadly. "I wouldn't need all that money Draco." Opening her eyes, she looked up at him. "But you never really gaze me a chance to tell you that until now."

Draco stared. "And if I had told you before, that I either get to keep my fortune and marry you or give you a choice, what would you have done Hermione? You would've laughed and then run, afraid that I would probably trap you like Weasley or Flint. You were unstable for so long Granger, I couldn't have if I wanted to."

"Don't use that as an excuse," she said tiredly. "You should've told me about this. You shouldn't of held onto me this long and this close to your deadline without some knowledge of what I'm getting into. Malfoy, I hate that you didn't tell me. If you had, maybe I could help you now."

He gave her a small smile. "You couldn't ever help me with this Granger. You are the last person I know who would rush a marriage, again."

Hermione's next words slipped off her tongue before she could consider them ."Maybe I would if I loved the person enough."

Draco stood quiet for several seconds. "Loved him enough? Granger, I never knew you loved me at all," he teased halfheartedly. He didn't really know where she was going with all of this, but he didn't want to make a stupid comment and set her off.

She shrugged, looking away. "Why wouldn't I? You've saved my life, and taken care of me. And you are always so sweet to me." She stepped forward and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck, his going around her waist instinctly. "I wouldn't have given you my virginity Draco, if I didn't feel something. I didn't even give my husbands that much."

Draco smirked, and leaned down to softly kiss her lips. "I know Hermione, but that doesn't mean your going to willingly marry me in the next few weeks. Besides, all those things could just mean you feel like you owe me."

"No, it doesn't," she sighed. "I don't feel like I owe you anything Draco. You never asked for anything, like your old self would. And anything that I can do for you I have. I didn't give you my virginity because I felt obligated to." She rubbed his neck. "I can't say that I'm in any way ready to be someone's wife again, even yours. I've had my experience with marriage, and its not something I plan on returning to anytime soon."

Draco nodded once. "I know, I never expected it." He chose to ignore the rest of what she said, and let it process through his mind instead. _At least she never thought I expected anything from her._

Hermione smiled lightly this time. "I wish I could help you with this Draco, but in all reality I'm still not ready."

He nodded again, leaning forward to place a kiss on her forehead. "And I won't make you. I didn't ask for a reason you know."

"I know." They were quiet for a long time, leaning comfortably against each other, lost in their own thoughts. Hermione kept thinking over what his father had done to the will, considering any options Draco may have.

"Let me see the will."

Draco gave her a skeptical look, dragging himself out of his own thoughts, all circling around the girl in front of him. "Hermione, the will is set in stone. I can't change it and neither can you. I've read it a thousand times and I can't find any loopholes."

She grinned up at him. "Yes, but you aren't the smartest witch of our age either."

* * *

><p>By Sunday February 6, Hermione had read the will more then a dozen times. It did indeed seem very specific, and she had yet to notice a flaw.<p>

But she was determined to find one. Even if Draco refused to do anything once she found a loophole, she still wanted to try. He had been sweet and honest towards her, and although she was a little uneasy that he had kept the deadline from her, she didn't plan to let that effect her decision to try and help.

She sighed, pulling out the checklist from within her book, the one that Draco had made up, and read its contents:

_1. Tell Hermione about the necklace._

_2. Go back to the Manor._

_3. Explain the dilemma with my inheritance._

_4. Dig up the ring. _

_5. Explain the loss of my wand to Hermione._

_6. Charm Hermione._

_The ring. _That one bothered her. Draco had talked about marriage, but had said he didn't plan to force her. Yet he needed to find a ring? _Seems a bit contradictory..._

Sighing, she circled number four. Draco still had several secrets it seemed, and she intended to find out what they were in the next few days.

Hermione refolded the paper and placed it back between two pages of the book, closing it firmly.

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed it! Please review, the reviews from the last chapter were amazing. Do it again this time, even if I have been awful with my updates... I'll try to get the next chapter out by next week if there's a huge feedback, like I usually do!<strong>


	7. Week 16 Part 1

**A/N: **Kind of a boring chapter, but it was too long to keep as a full week, so its been broken into two smaller chapters that are both short, and I'll post the second half in several days, since its the rest of this week. Hope you enjoy! Leave a review by the way, on what you think will happen!

* * *

><p>Thanks to my new beta: <strong>ViralAnomaly<strong>!

* * *

><p><strong>Eric:<strong> The letter may very well be from her, can't it? As for the necklace, its coming up here very soon, I promise. And everything else? Its coming to a dramatic piece here soon.

**They Call Me Ginger: **Astoria has another mental trick up her sleeve I believe, but you'll have to wait and see. As for Astoria and Derek, I think there's a bit more about them in here :)

**The Butterfly Effect: **Then you'll love week 16, its packed with events!

**Hooker: **It will, I can promise you that.

**Readingismypassion: **It was actually.

**I vIsItEd DrAcO lAsT nIgHt: **Hopefully this wait will be worth it too!

**Barbie: **Yes, the end is slowly coming, only a few more weeks and then it'll be over :( But I assure you you'll like the end (at least I sincerely hope so).

**mysexylover: **Its very possible…

**HadBeen: **Wow, very angry review at a certain character… anyways I think you'll like this chapter more too :)

**Jelisha Baby 22: **Maybe it will…

**PurplePiglet101: **I plan to!

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><p><strong>Week 16: February 7-February 10 Thursday<strong>

* * *

><p>Monday morning Hermione woke up tired and irritated, having slept little the previous night with Draco's note and the unsigned letter plaguing her dreams. <em>Strange dreams. <em>

She dressed quickly and said goodbye to Draco with nothing more then a quick kiss, her mind focused elsewhere. She was determined to find a loophole in the will. Lucius Malfoy would not outsmart her, even here, with something that originally wasn't meant for her eyes.

The morning passed quickly, and before she knew it lunch had come around. Gathering herself at the library desk, book in hand, she made herself comfortable for an in-office meal, knowing that one or two students that reminded her of herself at their age would come in and read during the hour.

She started on her sandwich, pulling out the copy of the will - Draco hadn't wanted the real one getting damaged in any way - and the checklist, gazing at Draco's own paper first.

_3. Explain the dilemma with my inheritance. _

She picked up a red muggle pen and drew a line through that one, certain that it was completed as of Friday. She looked over the list two more times, wrinkling her eyebrows.

Number one had drawn her attention. The necklace Draco had given her months ago now sat in her bag, too heavy to wear around her neck. The color was fading, and it was a border-line yellow-orange now, which confused her. The only solution she had to the change in color was a magical drain, but even that wasn't certain.

_It had to have magic in it, because otherwise Draco wouldn't have known when to save me from Marcus when he broke in. He wouldn't have known until after I was gone. But, what kind of tracking spell would he have had to use to accomplish that?_

Hermione sighed and took the final bite of her sandwich. He obviously meant to tell her about the strange piece of jewelry, if that check-list meant anything. Yet, after all this time, she didn't have an answer from him. It was irritating her, just then, to not know what exactly he had placed around her neck.

What kind of _spell_ he had put in that necklace?

She pushed her chair back, covering the papers on her desk with several books, and headed off into the library, intent on pulling out a few books from the restricted section.

Besides, there was barely anyone there.

* * *

><p>Derek watched her from his post on the floor beside the library's door. In the awful light that day, caused by an overcast of clouds, he was hidden.<p>

The crumpled note lay at his feet, his face impassive. The Greengrass girl had finally lost her mind, and he wanted nothing more to do with her. He didn't want her owls arriving, anything.

He didn't _like_ the way she kept saying she would get Hermione out of the way. It sounded sinister, like somewhere along the way she had strayed from her path and become something else entirely. He shuddered.

When Granger left her post at her desk, he bolted out the door, note in hand. Astoria Greengrass had finally lost her mind, and he didn't need her small payment that badly. If he received another threatening note, he'd have to get a hold of a very bossy relative of his.

And he really wanted to avoid owling Pansy.

* * *

><p>That night Hermione arrived home and pondered over the Malfoy will for a few hours before Draco succeeded in dragging it away from her, simply to use the witch for other purposes.<p>

On Tuesday February 8, Draco awoke in a better mood then usual. He was up and dressed before Hermione even got up, and even smiled at her cat as he sat waiting for her in their living room.

Once the Gryffindor had pulled herself out of bed and prepared for her day at work, she met the blond on their couch, raising an eyebrow. "What's got you in such a good mood this morning?"

He grinned. "Its just going to be an exciting day."

Hermione tilted her head to the side. "Why's that?"

"The Ministry returns my wand to me today."

She stared at him, having forgotten that his wand was gone. They only saw each other in the morning and later at night five out of seven days, so she rarely ever thought about his wand. And when they were in the apartment both seemed to simply go about things without the use of magic, except when they were _playing_ and he used her wand to cast a conception spell.

She just hadn't been focusing on their magic lately. _How very caring of me_. The fact of the matter was that she had been focused on her job, Astoria, Draco's list, the necklace and now the will. She hadn't put time into thinking about his magic.

Her face broke into a smile. "That's wonderful!"

Draco chuckled lightly. "Took you a moment." He bent over and kissed her passionately. "The only downside is I must converse with your friend Potter."

She shook her head. "Harry's not all bad, even you know that now!"

He shrugged, and pulled her towards him for another kiss. "I suppose not."

* * *

><p>Harry Potter sat in his office, hands clasped together on his desk, watching Pansy Parkinson pace in front of him.<p>

"What do you think?"

He narrowed his eyes. "I think its a bit sketchy. We don't have any real proof Pansy; the Ministry can't just break into peoples homes without cause."

She sighed and turned to him, placing her hands on her hips. "We won't even have to! Daphne can just as easily get us up there to see her! Have you forgotten her words already? If Astoria's losing her mind, she could be a danger to everyone."

Harry shook his head. "Pansy-"

He paused as the door to his office was flung open, and Draco Malfoy wandered in, looking rather joyful. He raised an eyebrow at Pansy's presence but seemed to not really care. Directing his attention fully to the man with glasses behind the desk, he spoke, "I've come to collect my wand."

Harry Potter rolled his eyes. "I know Malfoy, just give me a minute." He was in no mood to deal with Draco at that moment, having been listening to Pansy dwell on things involving the annoying Greengrass girl. He quickly stood from his desk and wandered into the hall, saying he would be back in a moment.

Draco raised an eyebrow at Pansy, curious about Potter's snappiness, but she only shrugged and took a seat in one of the two chairs in front of the desk; Draco remained standing.

"Daphne's right," the girl said absentmindedly, chewing her lip in thought.

"Come again?"

"I think Daphne's right about committing her," Pansy said, pushing back her hair. "The letters-"

"Letters? I was under the impression that there was only one."

The girl shrugged, and pulled out a folded piece of parchment. "Daphne sent it this morning, but its nothing new Draco. Mostly her complaining about her sister, and what to do with her. She said Astoria seems to get a lot of owls at night."

He raised a blond eyebrow. "And why does that matter?"

Pansy shrugged again. "It could mean nothing, or something. They all seem to come from the same black owl."

"Lots of people have black owls, it doesn't mean anything." He glanced at the room with a critical eye, wondering if Potter had been the victim of a Weasley decorating sense sometime ago. The place was far too crowded. "What are you doing here anyway? I never knew you and Potter were chums."

Pansy frowned. "Is that really any of your business?"

"Perhaps it isn't, but I do recall you prying into some of my own personal life on a few occasions, Parkinson."

"I was just here discussing matters concerning your little girlfriend," she replied lightly, brushing his question off with a dismissive tilt of her head. "It would be terribly unfortunate to see yet another thing happen to her."

"And what exactly does that mean," he asked, narrowing his eyes.

Pansy held up her hands, shaking her head once with an irritated look placed on her face. "Nothing Draco, I'm simply saying Potter is very concerned about Astoria attempting anything."

"And why would Potter be concerned," he snapped, his good mood souring as his mind was forced to focus on his ex. "Astoria hasn't done anything in a while."

Pansy nodded. "That's just it; she always tries something. The fact that she hasn't appeared for a while makes Daphne and me uneasy. Besides her strange behavior lately and the owls, Daphne can't pinpoint any other behavior."

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I would say she's just come to her senses, but I know that's not even it. The girl obviously doesn't have any common sense, if her behavior the last few weeks is any indication."

Pansy nodded as the office door opened again, and Harry stepped inside carrying Draco's wand in a loose grip. He looked annoyed, and handed the thin wood to the blond without any questions. "The Ministry expects you to behave now that your suspension is over," he drawled, sitting down heavily in the chair behind his desk. "Any further misuse of your magic and the Ministry may consider breaking your wand."

Draco rolled his eyes, already expecting Harry's little speech. Besides, he knew that was just an exaggeration. The Ministry didn't just break people's wands over _anything_. "I know the rules Potter. This is not the first time I have been in trouble for misuse of magic."

"Well, I hope its the last."

He chewed the inside of his cheek, fighting back a rather insulting comment aimed at his former boss. "We'll see."

Harry opened his mouth to continue his lecture on the rules, but shut it again. He was very drained now, and he had no desire to argue with Draco Malfoy. "Fine then, you best be on your way, Malfoy."

The taller man shrugged, and nodded his head to Pansy. "Yes, I should be." He turned on his heel and walked out, barely catching Pansy's hushed goodbye.

As the door closed behind him, Pansy turned and looked at the boy-who-lived. "You seem rather tense."

He shrugged. "Interesting that you noticed, considering this is maybe the seventh time I've seen you in person and we haven't been on opposing sides."

She smiled lightly. "I do pay attention, Harry. So, what is it?"

He wrinkled his nose. "McGonagall wants me to go to Hogwarts and speak to one of her students. She says he is having an issue with someone, and it might even give me a reason to go see Astoria."

Pansy raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

He looked her straight in the eyes when he spoke. "Derek Parkinson."

* * *

><p>Draco waited for Hermione on the couch that night, using his wand to levitate her precious cat onto the sofa, as far from him as possible.<p>

The fireplace roared to life and Hermione stepped out, smiling at him as she took a seat beside him on the couch. He smirked in return, twirling the wand between his fingers.

"How was your day?"

He smirked. "Better then many."

She smiled again, leaning in to kiss him deeply on the lips. He laid his hand on the sofa, using his free one to grab a fistful of her curls and pull gently. She nibbled his bottom lip, sliding her hand across his legs to grasp the wand, slipping it from his fingers.

He pulled back slightly, raising an eyebrow. Hermione placed a finger over his lips, giving him a mischievous look as her opposite hand trailed back across his thighs and headed northward, holding his gaze the entire time.

His curiosity spiked and he slid his own hand over her flat stomach a moment before slipping it under her shirt, rubbing circles on the smooth skin. "What's brought this on?"

She looked up, meeting his eyes slowly. "I didn't give you a proper congratulations this morning," she said, shrugging happily. "I simply want to make up for it."

"So basically, you're making up excuses," he replied, smirking widely.

The brunette shrugged, her fingers tracing lightly over the bulge that was painfully obvious beneath this trousers. "Are you going to complain, then, Malfoy?"

He chuckled, sliding his hand further up to sneak under her bra. His index and middle fingers locked around a nipple and applied a bit of pressure, and he watched with satisfaction as she bit her bottom lip. "Never."

* * *

><p>Wednesday morning, Daphne woke to a silent home yet again, her house elf still someplace downstairs. She stretched, yawning loudly as the aftermath of her pleasant night of sleep slowly left her body.<p>

Standing, she brushed her fingers through her long knotted hair, attempting to ease the mess on her head after her previous, restless night. The strange dream replayed in her mind, replaying the events she had witnessed at the Hogwarts Christmas Ball.

_The spell hit Flint and he fell to the ground motionless. By now the Aurors and Harry had drawn their wands, Harry letting go of Ginny and saying something to her. Minerva and the Minister had made their way to the front of the crowd. Hermione had never seen Flint take a hit like that - was he drunk? Playing weak?_

_However, now Ron's eyes were scanning the crowd, resting on a very blond head. "Malfoy! Get off her!"_

_Hermione knew where this was going, and hoped it was the end. Draco shoved her behind him and pulled out his wand. He raised an eyebrow at the redhead, daring him to try something against him._

_"Stupefy!"_

_Draco reflected it easily, never removing his eyes from his opponent but keeping Hermione behind him, perfectly out of the way. "Relashio."_

_The sparks danced from the end of Draco's wand, smacking Ron in the chest before he could do anything. He rocketed back into a wall as wizards jumped out of the way, avoiding being hit and several grabbing for their wands._

_"Draco!" Hermione pushed to his side, her eyes afire. "Stop that!"_

_He heard Pansy's voice in the distance, and snapped his head around, pushing Hermione back again as he watched Pansy take the spell off of Marcus and he leaped up, wand in hand._

_Daphne stood on the sidelines, watching the scene in front of her. Marcus Flint looked very familiar._

"Of course he looked familiar," she muttered, picking up a brush as she reached her mirror, and began pulling it through her messy locks. _"The man spent half of his time here-"_

She stopped talking, considering her own statement. _The man spent half of his time__ here._

After Astoria was anonymously reported for staking out Malfoy's house, a strange guest kept appearing in their home for several weeks. Daphne hadn't paid a whole lot of attention to him, assuming he was one of Astoria's special "friends". It wasn't until Pansy came by one day and dragged her into an empty bedroom after spotting the man that Daphne became cautious of the stranger.

_"You realize who that is, don't you?"_

_Daphne shrugged. "Fuck if I know. Astoria brings him around every now and then. I really don't want to know what the two do together."_

_Pansy shook her head. "Don't you read the Prophet anymore? That man was reported for assault on his wife! The papers caught hold of that story a few weeks ago."_

_The girl scrunched up her nose. "Why is he free then? The Ministry should've-"_

_"The Ministry hasn't been able to find him," Pansy hissed. "We need to get a hold of someone. I've seen his wife, she seems a bit timid, even in the company she was in."_

_Daphne gave her a strange look. "What does that mean?"_

_"She was at Malfoy's," Pansy said, keeping her statement vague. The blond accepted this, and turned to check that Astoria's guest was there still. Of course, he was gone. _

The blond had mentioned this to her younger sister later that night, resulting in a rather large fight, and Daphne had not seen the man since then, but was happy to learn from Pansy a few weeks ago that he had been sentenced to Azkaban.

She had just been floored to learn his wife was Hermione Granger, golden girl with such a head on her shoulders that she was the absolute last person Daphne had thought would allow herself to be beaten.

The really awful thing though, as the blond stood staring at her reflection in the mirror with her brush stuck halfway through her hair, was she had seen the man's name written around their home, accompanied by a rather lengthy letter she had never bothered to read.

_Oh Astoria._

She pulled her brush out and set it aside, grabbing her wand instead to magically remove the tangles, but not do her hair in the bun she desired. Pocketing her wand, she stormed from her bedroom, down the hall to her sisters door, and knocked harshly on the wood.

"Astoria! Open this door right now!"

Although her idea seem far fetched, her dreams had stirred a new worry in the pit of her stomach, and she simply needed her sisters' verification that she wasn't truly an insane psychopath.

The door swung open, and Astoria's dark eyes peered around the wood, narrowed into slits. "What is it, Daphne?"

She took a shuddering breath, looking the girl straight in the eyes. "Astoria, I need to talk to you."

"So talk," she said simply, not opening the door an inch wider.

She inclined her head, looking into the shadowed space of her younger sister's room. "Can I come in?"

She rolled her eyes, but opened the door a bit more to allow her elder sibling in. The girl squeezed through and walked to one of the cozy chairs located in a nearby corner, looking at the large black owl suspiciously. Taking a seat, she looked at Astoria again. "I have a question."

"Yes, I've gathered that," she said snappily, folding her arms across her chest. Daphne frowned, and took the girl in. Her hair was straight and sleek, yet her clothes were a mess like she had worn them for too many days. Her eyes had bags beneath them, and her skin looked rather dirty. It appeared the girl had neither slept nor bathed in several days.

"What have you been doing?"

"That's your question?" she asked dryly, glancing at the owl. "I highly doubt you would push your way in here to ask what I have been doing."

Daphne pursed her lips, glancing at the younger Greengrass' neat desk. The owl was perched above a letter, but she could not tell whether it were a delivery or something she planned to send. "No, its not."

Astoria huffed. "Then stop wasting time. What is it already?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Very well. Do you remember your dear friend, Marcus?"

A flicker of emotion passed across her face, but it was masked too quick for Daphne to catch exactly what it was. "No."

She clicked her tongue. "Lies. That was the man you kept bringing her on occasion, the strange one you always shooed away when I came near." She rolled her eyes, certain she was on the right track, but froze as her eyes caught something vaguely familiar that churned her stomach.

The dark haired girl raised an eyebrow of her own, oblivious to what her sister was staring at on the table. "Is it really any of your business?"

"It might be," Daphne pressed, standing and tearing her eyes away from what she had been staring at. "Are you aware he was after his _wife_, Granger to be precise, the same girl you hate?"

Astoria narrowed her eyes. "Again, its not any of your fucking business."

The blond shrugged, continuing right on despite the glaring eyes fixated directly at her. "And I wonder, Astoria, why I saw so many notes addressed and from that man lingering on your desk for months, despite the Ministry wanting him in custody. You were speaking to him."

"And if I was? You did nothing to stop me!"

"I didn't even know who he was," Daphne snapped, fingering her wand in her pocket, "until Pansy told me. And even after, I didn't know his name. Not until that Christmas Ball, when he was Pansy's date."

Astoria's eyes returned to slits. "Yes, I know perfectly well who was his date."

"You seem very upset over the whole ordeal," the eldest girl commented, raising an interested eyebrow. "I wonder why that is?"

Astoria pursed her lips, but said nothing. As the silence stretched on, Daphne decided the girl was withholding information concerning something that was rather irrelevant to their current topic, and that eventually she would have to ask her about them, but for now she had something else to address. "Were you helping him," she asked quietly, holding her sister's eyes.

The girl scoffed. "Of course not! Those letters were just two friends corresponding! Don't you have more faith in me than that, Daphne?"

The blond smiled sadly. "Maybe I did once," she said, walking towards the door, "but your recent actions have killed any faith I may have had in you. You weren't always this way, and I will never understand what has made you so utterly heartless."

"I didn't help him," the raven haired girl screamed behind her.

"Keep telling me what you need to," she said simply, grasping the handle of her sister's door. "It will all come out eventually."

"What are you talking about? You don't honestly know anything!"

Daphne shook her head sadly as she opened the door and stepped out. "You were never very tidy Astoria. When you lie to my face, at least make sure the evidence is hidden." She slammed the door, letting the sound vibrate off the bedroom walls. She stared down the hallway sadly, knowing her sister was now a lost cause. Unless she made some major changes to her ways, and that was doubtful at this point, to say the least.

Astoria glared at the door, before stomping over to the chair her sister had occupied and glancing at the paper beside it. She froze.

_Dear Marcus-_

Her hand came shakingly down to rest on the paper, pulling it close to her face. The room wasn't dark, but her half open drapes cast shadows across the space. She hadn't picked up those letters in a long time, having forgotten about them after his arrest.

They were old, but they were dangerous. And she only had some of them.

_Where the hell did I put the others? _

She pulled out her wand and whispered a spell, watching the parchment catch fire, and walked towards her bathroom quickly, dropping the enflamed paper into the sink and turning on the faucet. She stared the charred paper as it stopped smoking, now a smoky black.

She leaned against the counter, sliding down it until she sat on the floor, hands fisted against her eyes. Daphne was so suspicious, so very close to finding a part of the truth that she was worried.

They had a deal, and she would uphold her side so she could have Draco. Just because Marcus was in jail, and she had no one to assist, didn't mean she had to stop trying. After all, the girl was pushing her luck on someone she had obviously tricked.

Astoria blinked the tears back furiously, deciding there was absolutely no reason to cry. Daphne was gossiping to her friends, she was damn sure of it. Why else would Pansy Parkinson return so frequently to their house after all these years? They were watching her, all because she hated Draco's fucking girlfriend.

Well, they just didn't know what she had planned, did they? _Or Daphne would've committed me by now, to quote her._

* * *

><p>Wednesday passed without event for Hermione and Draco, who went out to a small muggle cafe for dinner, before returning home. Draco was just overjoyed to be able to apparate by himself.<p>

Thursday, Draco waved goodbye to Hermione as she went off to work, but quickly found his mind spinning out of control. The last two days, he hadn't let his mind wander too much, but Hermione had yet to make any headway with the will, and he was now focused on his list again.

_1. Tell Hermione about the necklace._

_2. Go back to the Manor._

_4. Dig up the ring. _

_5. Explain the loss of my wand to Hermione._

_6. Charm Hermione._

He had completely removed number three, but he still had five daunting tasks to accomplish. He reasoned that number six was slowly being accomplished over time, with the dinners and romantic moments, any gifts he gave her, and of course the sex they constantly had.

He had nearly accomplished number one last week, but the letter had ruined any plans of that. With his wand back now, it would be the perfect time to tell her what he had nearly done, but she had yet to ask and he didn't really want to go into it. The ring, all he had to do was dig it up and replace it someplace secure, because he wouldn't be using it for a long while. And the Manor, would involve a lot of time and tolerance.

Draco groaned. The ring was simplest, but that meant truly accepting that he had lost, and Malfoys never lost. Hermione was working on the will, but there was absolutely no guarantee she would be able to accomplish anything in the next 18 days. Yes, he would deal with the ring now, and worry about the other things later.

He reached into the bedside table, discarding the list on the bed as he did so. The velvet box lay amongst the other items, including his cigarettes that he had been using less and less lately, and he picked it up. The ring had been in his family for centuries, and he intended to give it to her, someday.

Whenever he finished charming her, and he knew it really was time, he would give it to her. But, knowing the practical Gryffindor, who had been in enough marriages for her short life, it wouldn't be for a long time. Until then, the ring needed to remain in good condition and away from danger.

Walking to his bookcase, wand tucked into his pocket, he removed the famous book and watched the shelf move aside, allowing him entrance. He walked in, placing a silencing spell around his head so he couldn't hear his family's words.

He simply couldn't deal with them complaining and lecturing about Hermione. It was tedious, just like Astoria, the necklace, and everything else in his life. He would deal with them another day, when he wanted to talk.

Besides, he would have them to talk to at the Manor as well, inside the damn picture room. Once he moved, this room would forever disappear. Another great thing about magic.

Draco waved his wand over a tile, purposely not looking in the direction of the pictures, to avoid glancing at their lips to see what they were saying, and watched the brick slide open, with a hollow space inside that would certainly hold the ring for a while.

He dropped it in, and watched the brick return to its spot. His heart lurched a bit, having accepted that there was a very real chance his life would flip. Before, it had been something he acknowledged and understood, if he planned to keep Hermione, but now, as he gave up the ring to the wall, he saw the finality in all of this and wondered what would happen.

He had very little hope to keep his family's money.

_Hermione's the brightest witch in decades. If I have any chance of outsmarting father, its certainly her._

He sighed, and turned in an abrupt step away from the wall and the portraits, walking purposely out of the room. Such a simple task, that gave up a lot of safety his mind told him he had. Now all he could do was wait and see. He had never been able to find a loophole in the will, and he doubted it would change now. No, he had to wait for his witch to come up with her cunning solution, and until then he was helpless.

_Damn. _

The bookcase slid shut, and he walked over to the bed, falling upon it. There was no weight lifted from his shoulders, only the feeling of defeat. He had accomplished another thing on his list, but he had eliminated his safety net.

_Another down, 3 1/2 to go_.

* * *

><p>Thursday night, Hermione got a phone call she had been waiting to receive. "Hi, Mom."<p>

"Hermione," she said sweetly from the other end, sounding quite happy. "How are you and Draco?"

"We're good," she replied, looking over at her blond boyfriend on the other side of the bed, who seemed to be doing his best to ignore her conversation. They hadn't gone to see her parents in nearly two weeks, and she knew immediately what the conversation was aimed at.

"Very good. When should we expect to see you again, dear?"

Hermione nearly cringed. Draco had been very strange after their last visit to her parents' house, and she sincerely hoped that her father wouldn't bother him again like he had last time. _Then again_, her mind told her, _you don't really know what happened anyways_."

I'm not really sure." She glanced at Draco, who was giving her a look that said he really had no desire to go see the people on the other side of the line. "Um, would Sunday work?

""No, dear," her mother said sadly, sounding a bit defeated. "Your father and I have to leave for a convention on Friday night - you know how we are, and we won't be home until Tuesday. I was hoping to set something up for later next week."

"Oh," Hermione said, pushing the phone down a bit to look at her tired boyfriend. "They can't do Sunday, or anytime this weekend-"

"Good," he cut in tiredly, "I don't have any desire to use up my weekend visiting people that make me uncomfortable."

She rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore Draco's dramatic statement. Her father did seem to be a bit cold to him, at least from what she saw, but they still needed to see them. No matter what, she loved her parents. "Would Wednesday work?"

"It would," her mother said, happy again. "I miss you honey, and I really can't wait to see you two again! You should come by more often."

"We'll try," Hermione said, "but my schedule makes it hard to do anything before six. Would a late dinner work?"

"Yes of course. Well, honey, I have to go finish packing, we'll see you Wednesday. Love you."

"Love you too." She clicked the phone off, turning to Draco who was frowning. "What?"

"Must we go see your family every other week?"

She shrugged, leaning over and kissing him lightly on the lips. "Yes."


	8. Week 16 Part 2

**A/N:** Kinda short, since it was split in two. Anyways, hope you like it! And if you do, leave me a response at the bottom? Let's make the reviews soar! Besides, I'm interested at the end of this chapter to hear everyone's thoughts on what will happen next! Thanks to my amazing beta, **ViralAnomaly**!

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><p><strong>mysexylover: <strong>We will see…

**Hooker: **Lol well here you go!

**They Call Me Ginger: **Eventually, yes.

**Readingismypassion: **The wait is up!

**I vIsItEd DrAcO lAsT nIgHt: **Lol perhaps Daphne will!

**Barbie: **You can stop wondering now :)

**Jelisha Baby 22: **Well, you will here.

**HadBeen: **No reason to be curious now!

**Eric: **My, you write long reviews! The same punishment as Flint? Seems a little harsh there…lol exciting curses? We'll have to see!

**The Butterfly Effect: **Here you go!

**lulu: **Focusing on your last comment to chapter 7, I liked the conversation too! It was different and a new insight for all of you.

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><p>February 11-February 13 Sunday<p>

* * *

><p>Harry Potter was very unhappy. He didn't want to go in and question a student, but it made the situation a little more comfortable knowing the student was the one who appeared to be a victim, instead of something else ridiculous.<p>

He just had a bad feeling about this.

It was Friday, and Harry was extremely irritated as he Flooed into Minerva's office, specifically to avoid being stopped in the hall by students. He had a date later that night, from someone he hadn't been expecting, and he wanted to be in a good mood for her.

"Mr. Potter," Minerva greeted him as he stepped out of the fireplace, the student behind her fidgeting slightly. "Thank you for coming on such short notice." She gave him a faint smile, having not seen the former student in almost a year, since the last time he had been called to the school.

"Of course P-Headmistress," he said, correcting himself with a smile. She may have been repositioned to the most prestigious place in the school, but during his time there she had always been a Professor. The transition was strange. "Congratulations by the way, on taking over this job." He felt a twinge in his chest as he spoke, remembering Dumbledore, and the numerous hours of time he had spent with the old man. Harry certainly missed him.

She gave him a rare smile. "Thank you," she said, "but I think I should leave you to talk to Mr. Parkinson alone." He glanced back at the boy, who was looking anywhere but the two adults before him,

"Yes," Harry agreed, watching as Minerva turned quickly on her heel and left, leaving him alone with the student. He took a seat next to the boy, instead of in the Headmistresses chair, and folded his hands, looking directly at the student. "Derek Parkinson?"

"Yes," he said bitterly, not looking at Harry. "Does it matter?"

Harry shrugged and relaxed back into the chair, watching the boy skeptically. He didn't seem dangerous, and from the description Pansy had given him, he had nothing to worry about. He had even taken a risk and come alone; although the boy didn't seem capable of doing much more harm then Draco Malfoy at that age. _But Malfoy did always have something up his sleeve. _

Ignoring the boys' rudeness, he continued, "I believe there's something you wanted to tell the Ministry."

The boy shifted slightly in his chair, but shook his head. "You in specific. It seems like it would be something rather personal to you."

Harry narrowed his eyes as the boy pulled out multiple slips of paper from his pocket and dropped them onto his lap, finally turning his head to look at him. "Those are from Astoria Greengrass."

* * *

><p>It took very little time for Harry to get a message out to Draco that they needed to meet, because of something concerning Astoria, and he had begun to worry about what the bitch could possibly be trying now. To keep himself from going to the Greengrass Mansion and completely losing his cool with her, he flooed to Blaise's instead.<p>

Blaise's home looked much the same as it had the last time he had visited, and he quickly found his way to the bedroom, remembering a time when he had messed with Granger's mind and woken her up in there in a less then appropriate manor. As he neared the door, he heard loud moans coming from inside. Draco stalled outside the door.

_If Hermione were here, I would do the gentlemanly thing and walk away, but she is not, and I really want to annoy the fuck out of Blaise. Maybe I'll even stop fretting. _He flung the door open, not giving a damn about what Blaise would do for payback later, and found himself surprised by the site before him.

"Malfoy," Blaise snarled as his head swiveled at the crashing sound his door made when it hit the wall. He collapsed on top of the redhead beneath him, shielding the girl's luscious body from the blonds' once hungry view. She squeaked beneath him at the new presence, burying her head into his shoulder. "You of all people should know to just _go the fuck away _when you hear people fucking!"

Draco chuckled. "And you, Zabini, shouldn't be so careless with your locks." He relaxed against the door, interested in the view before him. It wasn't surprising exactly, but he hadn't expected this to happen so quickly.

Blaise growled a second time. " Get out, Malfoy!" He glared at the other boy, his eyes darkening as his annoyance grew.

He continued his chuckling. "We need to talk. Come out in a few minutes when you finish with her." He nodded his head at the girls shocked face. "Bye, little Weasel." He slammed the door shut again, enjoying the girls' rushed out swear words as he mentioned her name.

_I really shouldn't have done that. I could've gone the rest of my life without that mental picture of them together. Although I will admit, Weaselette has a nice rack. _The blond chuckled.

He sat down on Blaise's couch, mulling over the note he had received from Potter again. His emotions quickly spiraled from amused to concerned. The note hadn't been specific, and he had instantly gone to his office to find out more, only to be told Potter was of course, out. Thus, Blaise would be his new helper. All he knew was that if he ended up going to the Greengrass Mansion to speak to Astoria himself, then he would also find himself with a short stay in Azkaban. He was just tired of listening to the girl and dealing with the issues she caused. Didn't she have anything better to do with her time?

_What could she have done now?_ He considered the idea of Hermione being hurt, but discarded it immediately. Potter would've at least mentioned that had it been the case, and he probably would've delivered the message in person. No, Malfoy was certain it wasn't that.

Besides, this wasn't one of her crazy ex's, and if history would tell him anything, then he knew she wouldn't take the girl's shit. At least, he hoped not. Granger was very skilled with a wand when she wasn't terrified out of her mind, and except for some threats, Draco doubted Astoria would really get away with anything. The worst she could do was talk a lot. She was in her own category of crazy, true, but she was rarely intimidating.

With both ideas discarded, it left him with a million possibilities, all of which were beginning to worry him. It was barely 5:45, and he was terrified she wouldn't return to the apartment, the very place he needed to be just then.

_For fuck's sake Draco, calm down. Didn't we just come to the conclusion that Hermione's not in any danger? Potter would tell you, he isn't that stupid. _

He stopped thinking. It wasn't good when your mind started lecturing you.

A few minutes later, Blaise came out with a pair of trousers on, pulling a shirt over his head. He looked very displeased.

"You couldn't just wait? I never walk in on you Malfoy."

"Yes well, you never really had the chance." He smirked, but it quickly fell off his face. He shifted slightly on the couch, before he decided it would be most fitting to find his pack someplace in his pockets. "Apparently, Greengrass has been trying something again." He pulled out the cigarettes, using his wand to light one. It was convenient to no longer need matches. It did little to relax his body, and as he took his first hit, his left hand clenched into a fist.

Blaise frowned, taking in his friend's stiff form and tight fist. He was obviously agitated. "What did she try now? What happened to your girlfriend?" He glanced at the cigarette in the Slytherin's mouth. "Don't smoke in my house."

"She's still at work," he said, running a hand through his hair, averting his eyes. "She'll be coming back to the apartment soon, and I need to be there." He ignored the second half of Blaise's statement. Draco seriously felt the need for a cigarette, and although it was unfortunately doing little to calm his unusually clear mind. Only Hermione Granger seemed to get into his head like this. _Damn_.

Blaise shook his head. "Then why are you here? You could've called or-"

"I needed a distraction," the blond snapped, turning to glare at his friend. He took another it of his cigarette, mentally reminding himself to use some sort of spell to tone down the smell of smoke. "I've been focusing too much on this, and if I don't have someone to stop me I'm going to go over the Greengrass Mansion and drag her out myself, whether she's conscious or not. I'll use a spell on her if I have to, but I'm tired of this bullshit."

He nodded, glancing back at his room. "Look, I'll come over in a-"

Draco shook his head. "Stay, you don't need to leave... her just to come with me. Besides, Hermione will be home in a minute-"

"Malfoy," his friend said, rolling his eyes, "I'll send Ginny home, you look like your ready to kill someone. Obviously Greengrass is getting to you, with all this happening so recently after her ex's attacks. It's fine. Besides, you came here for a reason, and you don't exactly come to many people for help. Let me just go tell her I need to deal with something."

The blond gave him a strange look, and snuffed out his cigarette in the lone ashtray Blaise unhappily kept for moments like this. He looked up at his friend. "I owe you."

"Yes, you do."

* * *

><p>The small group sat in Draco's living room; Hermione at his side, snuggled close, Potter beside Pansy on the other side of the couch, Blaise standing against the outer wall and Theo in the chair. Zabini had alerted him of Malfoy's foul mood before Potter had arrived.<p>

Harry pulled out a small collection of notes, and set them on the table, looking between Draco and Hermione, his eyes finally resting on his longtime friend. "Derek Parkinson gave me these, ring a bell?"

She blinked, obviously confused about his question. "Yes, he comes into the library sometimes and talks with me. He asked a lot of questions for someone who seems very careless towards his schoolwork. I never quite understood what made him so interested in my life..."

She trailed off, looking above Harry's head. _Of __course. _How could she be so stupid? This was a teenage _boy_ who had been talking to her, not a girl who was looking for some new gossip, or liked to be updated on famous couples. A teenage boy had plenty of other things to do then ask personal questions to the school librarian. A teenage boy rarely cared about gossip.

_I've been feeding him information. _

"He worked with Astoria," she said quietly, staring into space. Harry nodded, and she just caught the gesture in her vision. "I can't believe I didn't notice his strange behavior. I can't believe I didn't even consider a reason why he's been pestering me. His bloody sister, I'm so stupid…"

"Yes, Derek said you seemed very careless with the information you told him," Pansy cut in, pushing her hair back. Hermione's brown eyes turned to the girl, giving her a strange look. The Slytherin chose to ignore the second half of Granger's sentence, afraid of how it would come off if she were to say something.

"You talked to him?"

"Well, I'm related to him. Harry called me in to talk to him after he confessed to communicating with Astoria, saying that he couldn't get through to Derek's parents just then, which is far from surprising." She looked closely at the girl, feeling as though Draco's girlfriend should've known that one herself. _What is she, confused? She had to have figured that out by now._

The Gryffindor nodded absentmindedly. "But what would Astoria gain from knowing those things? It was all basically the same to what the newspapers wrote; she didn't need to use a student to get anything new. I never said anything terribly revealing."

Harry nodded towards the notes, speaking up. "He was feeding her information for a quantity of coins each week. He said he didn't really understand why she needed to know anything about you, but that as time progressed she sounded angrier in her notes, and more threatening, especially when asking about you." Harry stared her down, obviously trying to make his intent known. "He was worried that whatever Astoria had planned would harm you, and he hadn't meant for anything to harm you. Derek reported to the Ministry when she mentioned something about removing you from the equation."

Hermione nodded absentmindedly, still reeling at her own ignorance. "I guess it's a good thing he reported these when he did."

"Yes, I believe it is."

There was a moment's pause within the group before anyone else spoke anything. "What do they say," Theo asked, speaking up.

"That," Harry said, looking at Draco's friend, "Is something I'm leaving Malfoy and Hermione to find out privately. I didn't read them, and although they are evidence towards getting into talk to Astoria, these copies are just for them unless they decide to share." He cleared his throat. "Cunningham will be reading the notes instead of me, because the Minister thinks that I will be affected too much by this, if anything is to become of these notes." He looked at the blond beside Hermione, waiting for an outburst about Cunningham's lack of stature and inability to take on anything like this. He waited for the protest that was certain to come about anyone else finding out and getting involved, yet none came.

He wasn't sure what to do about that.

Blaise frowned, ignoring the strange look crossing Potter's face. "She really said things that awful to a scared Slytherin? The girls lucky she didn't get reported sooner."

"He's not scared," Pansy snapped, standing up for her young relative. "Derek has just never thought anything through, and all he saw in this deal was a way to make more money."

Harry nodded again, thinking of all the Pureblood prejudices he had come up with during his school years, before he looked at Draco, who had remained very quiet throughout the entire conversation. "The Ministry should be approving a search of the Greengrass Mansion by tomorrow, so I can bring you with then to talk to her."

He didn't reply, but Blaise spoke up. "What about Daphne? She's already there; we could Floo over now-"

"I can't get a hold of Daphne," Pansy cut in, looking at her former classmate. "I've tried twice, and sent her an owl, but she hasn't responded to anything. Its possible that she's asleep, but I'm worried."

Theo frowned and looked at the girl near him. "Why?"

"Typically, I can just apparate into the Mansion, but I'm unable to today. I can't imagine why she won't let me in." Pansy clasped her hands together tightly and moved slightly closer to Harry, a bit concerned about Daphne's well being.

"Maybe Astoria found out we had her notes," Blaise said, shrugging.

"Let's hope not," Harry said, rubbing his forehead over the famous scar. He noticed Pansy's close proximity and tried to ignore it just then; they're date had been cut short, and he just couldn't focus on her at the moment, or he would completely forget about what they were dealing with. "If she has, then she will be long gone by morning. We'll have to see what the problem is tomorrow."

Pansy opened her mouth to say something, but Hermione cut her off. "When will you go tomorrow?"

Harry frowned. "I'm not sure, but Hermione-"

"I'm going Harry."

Potter opened his mouth just like Pansy had to say something, but was cut off by the angry voice of Draco, who had yet to speak. "No."

All eyes turned to the blond, and Hermione's own frown deepened. "What do you mean no Draco? You can't simply tell me what I can and can't do."

He closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Then we'll talk later."

"No-"

"Later," he said, squeezing his eyes tighter. Blaise noticed the action, and could almost feel his friends' annoyance and irritation. He pushed away from the wall quickly, glaring down at Theo, who stared for a moment before catching onto what Blaise meant, and stood as well.

Draco Malfoy had been infamous for his 'moods' in school, after all.

"I think we should all go," Blaise said, glancing around the room. "Daphne can be contacted tomorrow, before anyone goes to the Mansion, but tonight I think everyone is in need of some rest."

Theo nodded, glancing at Pansy, who had also stood up and gently grabbed Harry's arm. "Yes," she said, looking into his eyes, "we all should rest, and clear our heads before anyone goes bursting into the Greengrass home."

Harry raised an eyebrow at the immediate departure the Slytherin's were making, but one glance at Malfoy told him why they were anxious to leave. He glared at the blond, meeting his cool grey eyes as a reminder that if he ever slipped, Harry would be there to arrest him in a moment.

After all, Hermione had been his friend long before Draco got an attitude adjustment.

Everyone said their goodbyes, besides Draco who sat quietly rubbing his temples, eyes closed. Once the last person had left the room, Hermione sat down and reached for a note.

"Don't," he sighed, opening his eyes and clasping his hands tightly. The action immediately caught her attention.

She frowned. "Draco-"

He held up a hand, looking over at her. "Not now Hermione. Those notes," he hissed, looking at them with hate, "could be filled with anything, and I want to be able to sleep tonight."

"How bad can they be? She was writing to a student, she wouldn't write anything too awful. Astoria never seemed to be that kind of person."

"Its not what she wrote, but what she implied." _Besides, Astoria never seemed to be a lot of things._

Hermione frowned again. "We all know she wants me away from you, its no surprise-"

"Yes," he said tiredly, "but it's late, and they will still be here tomorrow. Honestly Granger, I want to sleep and not desire to hex Greengrass all night-well, more then I already do. Please, leave them until morning, or sometime tomorrow."

She shook her head. "Prolonging wont help us at all. The faster we get done with all of this, the better."

"Neither will pent up anger until we find her, and commit the crazy bitch."

"Still-"

He placed a finger across her lips, silencing the chatty Gryffindor. "Let it go for tonight, please."

She sighed against the digit, but nodded reluctantly, using her want to place the papers specifically in one of her bags. After all, they weren't accomplishing much, and she didn't want to argue further with him. _That would just make matters worse; I can see it now. He doesn't sleep well, and then he ends up sending a hex her way on sight tomorrow. Just brilliant…_

* * *

><p>Saturday found Draco and Hermione up bright and early, more interested in finding out when Harry could take them to go to the Greengrass Mansion then what Astoria had talked to Derek about. And he was quite happy to ignore those pieces of paper for another day…<p>

Neither had slept too well, not with Draco flipping around in a huffy manor all night, and Hermione constantly rolling into him when he adjusted too much. They sat on different pieces of furniture in the living room, both fighting to stay awake.

Twenty minutes after ten, the fireplace roared to life and Blaise Zabini stepped out, surprising them both. He looked rather annoyed. "I was owled to come here."

Hermione frowned. "And why weren't we informed?"

"Because," he said, sitting down on the couch away from a very annoyed looking Draco, "Potter assumed you two would sleep terribly, and we can all just Floo straight from here to Daphne's room. Pansy's going to connect the fireplaces when she gets here."

"Pansy got a hold of her then?"

"Yes," he said, looking at the blond again, who was now half asleep, "she got a hold of her around two this morning, but she had no idea why all the connections were cut. Theo thinks it's because Astoria got wind of us finding out, and hid."

"At least she's still there," Hermione muttered.

"Yeah, Daphne said she saw her this morning, so we're all hoping she doesn't try and leave. The others will be here in a minute."

Hermione nodded, glancing at Draco, who was now glaring at her through half open eyes. "I'm still going. She's angry at me, which is something I personally want to fix."

"You're not going to make her like you," Draco said, shaking his head lightly. He had realized, sometime between rolling around and scooting Hermione away from his lively body that there was no way she would agree to stay behind. _Too much of that damn Gryffindor spirit in her._

"I never said that was my intent."

The fireplace roared to life, and Harry stepped out with Pansy, who seemed rather tired herself. She immediately began a quick spell that Hermione was too tired to listen to.

Harry nodded to the group, noticing how more then half of them seemed to be falling asleep. He smiled at Hermione before he spoke to her boyfriend. "Nott's not coming, he said he is getting drug into something at work."

Draco shrugged. "One less person to get in. How are you planning to get a group of people with no Auror training in exactly, Potter."

He grinned down at the blond, who opened his eyes wider at the strange look. "I convinced my boss to allow you to pose as the second Auror, since you have the training."

"Have you forgotten that I was fired?"

"Not at all, the Minster is simply overlooking it this one time, because its not a deadly case, its just personal."

"The Minister's breaking his own laws," Draco mused, standing and reaching out a hand to Hermione. "What irony."

Harry shrugged. "I wouldn't complain; this keeps this strictly to the people who need to know, which is why I think the Minister agreed. I doubt he wants a large hustle all about Astoria Greengrass' insanity."

* * *

><p>The Mansion was quiet, and Daphne wasn't in her room.<p>

Harry immediately raised a wand, followed shortly by the others as they came through. The group began walking, with Pansy in front leading the group in the general direction of Astoria's room, everyone else crowded behind her.

The hallway outside Daphne's bedroom is where they found her.

"Is she okay," Pansy asked worriedly, looking at her long time friend with nothing but fear.

"She's fine," Hermione said, who had knelt down beside the girl, "she's just been hit with a knock-out spell, she'll come to in a minute." She whispered the counter curse, and moved out of Pansy's way so she could watch her friend.

"I think Astoria found out then," Blaise mused, looking around the hallway. A picture had been knocked off the wall, and now lay on the floor facedown. Potter flicked his wand and it moved itself back onto the hook, the poor person inside smiling thankfully.

"You think," Draco said, crossing his arms with a scowl. "We shouldn't have alerted her Pansy, that must be how she found out."

"Don't blame me," Pansy snapped, looking up.

"I-"

He paused as Daphne blinked her eyes open, her hand going to her temple like every single person did whenever they woke up. She looked around at the group, eyes finally resting on Hermione.

"She really hates you."

Hermione frowned, but Harry spoke before she could. "What happened?"

She shrugged, and extended her hand to the nearby Blaise to help her up. She stood and brushed off her shirt, apparently never having had the chance to change from her pajamas. "I had just opened the Floo up to let you in, when I heard a bag down the hall. I came out to check, but..." Her voice trailed off and she rubbed her head again.

"We should get you some water," Hermione said, conjuring a glass as Draco walked up behind her and grasped her hand tightly. She handed it to the girl.

"Thank you," she replied, sipping it gingerly. "I don't exactly remember what happened. I came out here after hearing the bang, but she was running out of her room, and she saw me. I believe she called me a traitor, and fired a hex. We sent a few at each other, before I messed up and she found an opening to hit me." She bit her lip. "I don't understand how she could've known, if I only opened the Floo in my bedroom. Hers is still down, as far as I know."

Draco shrugged. "Your sister is bloody crazy. You should've committed her a long time ago."

Daphne rolled her eyes. "Yes Malfoy, I'm aware. But its not something I've been looking forward to doing. How would you like it?"

He pursed his lips, and squeezed Hermione's hand a bit tighter, but refused to comment.

"Well whatdo we do now," Blaise muttered, looking around. "I don't want to go searching for your sister really, that's Potter's job."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'll have to go alert the Ministry immediately." He looked at Daphne. "You may have someone stop by later to question you again on what happened, but I would keep my wards up if I were you. Astoria seems to have lost her mind for good."

"Everyone always says that she's lost her mind," Daphne said quietly, brushing back her hair, "but I think she's just trying to get back what she thinks she still wants." Her eyes traveled to Draco, who glared back at her meaning.

Harry watched the exchange, but found that he didn't want to get involved. "I'll go and report this," he said, looking around. "You don't think she's in the Mansion still?"

"We'll look around," Blaise said. "You'll have to report this one way or another. Just keep that little mobile device handy in case we find her."

Harry frowned. "I really should stay-"

"Go," Pansy said, glancing around. "I doubt she's here anyways. We'll do a quick look and then I'll let you know what happened."

He nodded, before reaching down and squeezing her hand, resisting the urge to kiss her just then. As far as he knew, no one knew about them. "Thanks."

Once Harry was gone, Daphne glanced around at the group. "You two go that way," she said, gesturing to Blaise and Draco. "We'll take the other side of the Mansion."

"We don't know any of your secret passageways," Blaise said, frowning. Every Mansion had its hidden spots, and he was in no mood to drag a temperamental Malfoy around in search of some.

She shook her head. "There are only two on that side of the castle, and they are very old. I doubt she would use them, and ever so they don't have exits, so she would have to be in a hallway to apparate out. There's nothing hidden that way."

Daphne grabbed Pansy's wrist, and began to drag her to the complete opposite side of the hall, Blaise walking in the other direction past Astoria's room, when Draco gently touched Hermione's wrist. She looked up, startled, into his clear silver eyes.

"I'd fire a few free hexes if you find her," he said simply, detaching himself from emotion. Freaking out and demanding she came with him wouldn't do anyone any good just then. "For all the shit she's dragging us through."

Hermione smiled lightly, and reached up to plant a soft kiss on his lips. "Hey, its all your fault Malfoy."

* * *

><p>Astoria hadn't been there. After searching through every room on their side of the place, the girl hadn't been found. Giving up, everyone had retreated, and Daphne had followed Pansy back to her home, locking down the Mansion the best she could from her sister.<p>

With no motivation to do anything, Saturday passed into Sunday rather slowly, and Hermione noticed again Draco's reluctance to open the shreds of paper. They were nothing more then words after all, how bad could it be?

It was Sunday afternoon when she finally woke up, and she found him to be nowhere in the bedroom. Sighing, she slipped a robe over her pajamas and wandered into the living room, nearly sending a cruel hex at her unusual visitor.

"Daphne," she said, releasing her grip on her wand when she realized who the blond on her couch was. "What are you doing here? Where's Draco?"

She rolled her eyes. "Relax. Malfoy went over to Blaise's, something about needing to talk. Pansy went with Harry to the Ministry, and I've already been questioned, so I decided to come here."

The brunette raised an eyebrow. "Why? We don't really know each other."

Daphne nodded, looking over Hermione's head. "Exactly, but I feel that I should tell you something."

Hermione moved to sit beside the girl, and immediately felt frumpy in her robe next to the girl in a pretty pair of boots and expensive looking jacket. "And what is that?"

She sighed, and brushed through her hair with her fingers. "Your ex husband, Flint, seems to have been in contact with my sister once upon a time, before he was sentenced to Azkaban."

She frowned. "Alright, but how is that relevant now?"

She titled her head, looking at the Gryffindor she had hated for years in the eyes. "Ginny Weasley also assisted Flint in getting into your house, but I believe Astoria helped him in very different ways."

"How?"

"The picture," she said, raising an eyebrow at Hermione. "Ginny Weasley is brilliant to a point, but remolding a picture in such a way as Flint did to the one that was formally in your bedroom takes true practice, and its something Astoria used to fiddle with in her spare time."

Hermione's mouth fell open a bit. "Your sister is the reason he could get in here so often?"

Daphne shrugged awkwardly, obviously not very proud of this. "It appears so, and I believe she even helped him try to break out of your bedroom, which is why you felt so invaded all the time."

"And what did she possibly have to gain," Hermione asked simply.

"Draco, of course."

She narrowed her eyes at the blond, unsure of all this. "And how can I believe you?"

"Well," she said, folding her hands, "I found some very peculiar letters in her drawer with Pansy and Harry last night, but I didn't show them to anyone. I have those for you, but there's probably a much better way to prove she's guilty of something."

Hermione frowned. "Why are you helping me arrest your sister?"

"Because," she said, her eyes full of sadness, "this girl isn't my sister."

She was still for a moment, then slowly nodded in understanding. "Alright then, how else can this be proven?"

"You'd have to talk to the third link in this complicated puzzle," she said, smirking. "Ginny Weasley is the only one who can really be of any use at this point. That is, if you're willing to go talk to her."


	9. Week 17

**a/n: **It's been a bit, but here I am again! Things are becoming more complicated and answered all at the same time! I'm going to try and update more often, since school ends in four days. Thanks to my beta **ViralAnomoly **for helping me, and **edwardsoneandonlylove **for an idea in the chapter. You'll know what it is my lovely :) Now, **read, review, enjoy :)**

And also, if you like a dark Draco or a difficult Draco, check out my other stories Man in the Mirror and What Would You Give! I have a one-shot coming out eventually too, once I get to writing it :)**  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Bambi: <strong>Perhaps you will. And yes, there is Ginny in here...

**mysexylover: **Read and see...

**HadBeen: **That's a good thing!

**Readingismypassion: **I try not to, but I'm not quite sure yet how many more chapters there will be. It depends how the next few play out, but I'll defeinitly let you know at least one chapter beforehand :)

**Eric: **More problems would indeed make this story explode. The notes? They will appear, but IDK when. As for Astoria, we will see her...

**They Call Me Ginger: **Soon enough?

**I vIsItEd DrAcO lAsT nIgHt: **I'm trying! And Ron? I'm not too sure about that...

**Hooker: **I think she would too...

**lulu: **Ah yes, so many complications!

**Jelisha Baby 22: **You'll have to wait and see!

**The Butterfly Effect: **Very!

* * *

><p><strong>February 14-February 20<strong>

* * *

><p>Hermione sat at her desk the following day, eyes scanning over the papers in front of her without taking anything in. Her mind wasn't on the papers before her, but everything that had happened over the weekend and how it would change the upcoming weeks.<p>

Now the Ministry wasn't just sending Harry in to quickly clear any suspicions off of Astoria, but were instead looking for her after the events at Greengrass Manor had been reported. Harry had apparently spent all of last night at the office, working overtime until nearly eight this morning, if Pansy's annoyed letter this morning had been any indication of how the night went. She felt bad that this was being made into such a big deal, and that Harry was apparently taking all the blame for it, or at the very least having all the paperwork thrown his way.

She sighed and leaned back in the office chair. Derek had yet to make his way into the library before lunch with one of his house friends like he usually did, and she got the strange feeling that he wouldn't come by much anymore. Apparently, he had no more reason to.

The list from Draco lay in front of her on the wood, only one thing crossed out. It bothered her severely. The list was peculiar, but an onslaught of multiple questions about every single thing listed would do her no good and probably take far too long. She needed to stick with what she knew about, like the necklace and Draco's wand. Things like the Manor or the ring seemed a bit hidden, and she had not been told anything about those, so it would be best to wait until answers about that came to her.

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. _Necklace or wand?_

* * *

><p>Draco sat at home, now fondly remembering how easy it was to pick up around the house with the use of a wand. Adjusting to a life without house elves had been hard, and one without his wand had been harder. Now he found he could accomplish things in a matter of minutes. He had definitely missed his wand more then he wanted to admit.<p>

Derek's dear letters between him and Astoria sat at his side, still unopened. He was prepared to wait for Hermione, but at the same time he didn't want to. If Astoria said anything out of line, he wasn't sure he wanted her to read it. It wasn't about safety; he simply wanted to read them first.

He wanted to know what the little shit said about his girlfriend first. After all, he had been reporting to Astoria, and he was a teenage boy. There was no telling what could have been said.

Then again, he was probably freaking out over nothing.

Instead of looking at the letters like he should, Draco reached over for the Daily Prophet that had been delivered that morning. He opened it up, reading the main article on the front page for a moment before a side column caught his eye.

_Marcus Flint, Former Husband of Hermione Granger Dies in Prison._

He sat up a bit straighter, eyebrows coming together as he read the beginning of the article.

_The 26 year old prisoner died Sunday morning for unknown reasons. The man was in prison for being an alleged Death Eater, using dark magic to track and hold his then wife away in his home during their marriage, abuse against his spouse Miss Granger (formerly Flint), sexually assaulting his estranged wife and recently breaking into Miss Granger's new home when she moved in with one Draco Malfoy._

_The Ministry is currently investigating the strange death, saying that none of the dementors had been bothering the convict. Searches are underway to figure out what happened to the man._

_However, the big thing everyone is talking about happens to be who exactly his Will is entitled to. Reader's will just have to wait and see if Miss Granger adopts a healthy sum of money._

Draco frowned, rereading the article again. Flint was dead? Well, it was hardly a loss really, but why hadn't Granger been alerted? _This article makes no sense; Hermione should have been alerted her ex has died, even if the Will is entitled to someone else, although, considering the lengths he went to to get her back, I would think it would still be under her name. _

He set the paper aside, placing his hands behind his head. _Will this ever end?_

* * *

><p>Ginny set the paper aside, folding her arms so she could rest her chin on them. Blaise sat beside her, quiet like he usually was. They didn't talk a lot, and what they had could hardly be called a relationship. It was only based on physical need, after all.<p>

Perhaps he never talked to her because of what she had done before. Blaise had stated outright when she came to see him that he did not trust her, under any circumstances, and would not back her up unless he had a reason to. Sure, she could see the underlined regret in his eyes, like he actually wanted to help, but he still wouldn't. He had been at the trial after all. He knew what she did.

And he obviously hated it.

She glanced over at him, voice quiet as she spoke against her arms. "He's dead then."

"It would seem so." Blaise sat on the opposite side of the bed, arms crossed, looking away. She bit her lip as he continued, "They will be coming to talk to you soon."

"I know..."

"I can't help you until you clear the air with me. What are you hiding?"

She pursed her lips now. "When they come, you'll see."

"That's not an answer Ginny," he replied, rubbing his forehead. "That's a way of avoiding the topic."

She glanced back at Blaise, who was frowning now, looking at a poor wall. She sighed, remembering a time not very long ago when that would've been Harry sitting there, and the atmosphere would be warm instead of cold. But there was nothing that would change history, and her own faults had led to this moment.

Although this moment didn't feel like a 'fault'. Blaise offered a kind of quiet that Harry couldn't, because Harry liked to talk.

She sighed, remembering a moment not so very long ago:

_Delighted, Hermione swung the door open a smile piercing her face._

_The second she had seen the door opening, she apparated away, as instructed. It felt so wrong to betray someone she had known for years, but she couldn't help it. Flint had her under a deal she simply couldn't maneuver out of. _

It was only five days prior that she even ran into the man, and the meeting had not been what she expected. Ginny knew Marcus Flint from a one time occasion when she ran into him prior to his marriage to Hermione, and this was certainly not him. He didn't have the dark hair or awkward teeth. She never spotted the lie until his wand was at her head, daring her to object. It was too late, and Ginny found she could agree or really have Harry killed.

It was a terrible choice, and she regretted it. Harry was alive, but she no longer had him. In the process of trying to keep him, she made mistakes and lost him. First the incident with Pansy, then everything with Marcus, and now her world was upside down.

"I know, but I'd rather only go into it once," she replied quietly. "I'm sure that they'll come to bother me soon enough."

Blaise grunted, and looked away. He damn well knew that, but he wasn't going to say anything.

* * *

><p>Hermione arrived home that Monday night, completely prepared to confront Draco about the necklace, but he stopped her in her tracks, the torn expression on his face clouding her mind.<p>

_Why does he look so frustrated?_

"Draco," she asked, sitting on the couch beside him and tilting her head. "What's wrong with you?" She glanced at her kitten, who had taken up residence as far from the pair as possible.

This wasn't looking very good.

She nudged him lightly, repeating her question. He huffed and looked over at her, eyes cold as stone. "Your ex is dead."

She blinked, not really processing what he had said. "What did you say?"

The blond rolled his eyes, keeping his arms tight across his chest. "Flint? He died in prison yesterday. Nobody really knows why."

She frowned. "Are you sure about that? This seems so-"

He thrust the newspaper at her, eyes still glaring away from her, and the muted television screen. She flipped it over and read the article, mouth slightly open as she took in the contents. The moment she finished reading, she chucked the paper at the wall, standing up and clutching her hair.

"He must've changed it," she muttered, not sounding disappointed in the slightest. "I would have been called or something, right?"

He shrugged again, glancing over at her. With her arms over her head like that, her shirt had risen up on her body, revealing her slim midsection. He could see her profile and the revolting mark that still marred her left hip, the thin scar he faced every time he saw her naked, that made his anger peak.

He remembered the first time he ever noticed it:

_Because of Hermione's state, Draco was able to maneuver her into his bed that night, but didn't get much further then feeling her up before she fell asleep from absolute exhaustion. He found himself smirking openly at her near naked sleeping body just beside his and traced his fingers up and down her skin. It was then as he traced over her left hip that he felt the slight feeling against his skin, like freshly punctured skin. Using his newly re-acquired wand he lit the space and gazed at the mark on her skin with irritated anger._

_The letters were fine and almost warm if you applied pressure there, and when he had been busy taking off her skimpy pajamas he hadn't noticed it. There were just two, which looked like they had almost been burnt into her skin. He quickly rolled on his back, biting his lip until it bled and tried to control his anger the best he could. Yesterday, when he had seen her bare lower back, that had certainly not been there._

"_Marcus Flint. You have got to be kidding. The bastard."_

The dim initials stared back at him, a cruel reminder of Hermione's now late-ex husband. The bastard may have finally died, but he still had this left to deal with. And he was not enjoying those memories.

People's histories didn't just die with them, after all.

She was saying something again, and he decided to tune back into what she was saying. "...gone? Astoria, she's been missing since yesterday..." Whatever exactly she had been talking about trailed off, leaving him without much of a clue as to what she was talking about.

"What?"

"Draco," she sighed, walking back to the couch and sitting on the arm, "I'm so confused."

He chuckled, reaching up to rub her thigh soothingly. "Yes, so am I." His other hand reached up to run through his hair, his brow once again furrowed. "I've been pondering who exactly bothered to kill him, but I have yet to figure it out."

She was shaking her head. "No one had a reason to! The only one who might is Astoria, and it's not like that would help her at all. Couldn't he have just died from natural causes," she added hopefully. "I mean, I've heard Azkaban is terrible, and the inmates are poorly taken care of-"

"It's hardly been six weeks," Draco snapped, cutting in. "Your ex wasn't exactly sane to begin with, but even he could last longer then that! Granger, if this were some natural cause bullshit, wouldn't they have an answer? It all seems a bit strange if you ask me."

"Yes, it is a bit far fetched," she replied quietly, standing again and wrapping her arms around herself. "But there's hardly been anything simple going on since I moved in here."

He nodded absentmindedly, glancing over at her. For the first time since she had come in, he softened up a bit. Sure he had chuckled moments before, but it was forced. Looking at her just then, she looked a bit lost.

Draco extended his arms, his left hand brushing against her jeans. "Come here." Stubborn as always, she shook her head, and he sighed, before standing up slightly and wrapping his arms around her middle, dragging her down into his lap.

"Now what's got you sad," he asked lightly, brushing away a few strands of her hair.

She shrugged, looking away from him. "Do we have to talk about this now? Please, cant we just, stop talking about all of this for right now?"

He nearly said no, but stopped himself. She seemed positively desperate to get him to stop talking about this, and it sparked some of his curiosity. The cruel side of his mind told him to push past her comfort zone, but the charming side, the one that had fallen for her, reminded him to be respectful.

He clamped his mouth shut, arms tightening just slightly around her. He would shut his mouth about the topic, at least for now.

* * *

><p>Tuesday came quickly, and Hermione wasn't prepared for the onslaught of feelings that tackled her as she sat in the library alone. Everything was replaying in her head, conversations that had gone on between her and everyone else.<p>

She remembered when Marcus convinced her to go into that terrible deal; forced to marry, and then bribed into being quiet to keep her innocence. It was horribly wrong, and it made him a monster for doing it. Yet, she couldn't help missing him.

_There's nothing to miss! He was a bastard, and you would probably be dead or pregnant now if you still lived with him. Stop missing him, he isn't worth it._

She couldn't help it though. He was a part of her life for a long time, and she couldn't just ignore it. No, she didn't feel bad necessarily that he was gone, but that he died so easily. He made her suffer for over a year, yet he spent less than two months in prison and then died. It was almost too easy of a way out…

She shook her head. Obviously, her mind was all jumbled.

Hermione sighed and looked at the will in front of her. She had discovered one way out of everything, but it would make her sound like a gold digger, and that was the last thing she wanted Draco thinking. She could run it by him, but not just then. Besides, right after this discovery of Marcus' death, it wasn't the time to bring up his will when they hardly knew if Marcus had changed his. If he had, there wouldn't be a problem. However, if it said for some reason that everything went to her, she would have many things to ponder.

Like _why_?

She picked up the will and looked at the number beneath. Ginny Weasley could be reached all day today through Blaise's phone, an offer Blaise wasn't exactly happy to make. It was obvious to the Gryffindor that he was having mixed feelings about the liar, just as he should. Ginny couldn't be trusted under any circumstances, but Hermione still had to depend on her now to shed some light on the situation. Everything had become a tangled mess, and she could no longer put things off. Draco's deadline was coming to a close and she sincerely wanted to help him out before then.

This needed to be done first, however. Picking up her cell phone, she wandered into the corridor outside and called the number.

"Blaise? I'm coming over."

* * *

><p>Blaise was extremely torn. Ginny had yet to explain herself, yet she continued to come over and sit in his home. He didn't exactly mind. After all, he did like the redhead, and once her problems were sorted through and fixed, he could possibly end up dating her. That is, if things worked out.<p>

It was just past ten that morning when Hermione had called him. Ginny had yet to know that he had received a call from her. She would be over anytime, to talk about whatever it was that was haunting the girl. He had no intention of staying in the room, afraid of the girl's wrath, and decided he would be very comfortable listening from the comfort of his bedroom.

The fireplace roared to life, and Ginny looked up suddenly as Granger emerged from the flames, glaring. She looked less than pleased to be doing this, and Blaise was slightly surprised that Draco was not at her side.

That couldn't mean anything good.

She stepped out and smiled at the Italian, before letting her lips turn down into a frown and she turned to face the red-haired girl. "Weasley."

The coldness of her tone caused Ginny to clutch at the cushion she was sitting on. "Hermione." _She is going to kill me._

"We need to talk," she continued, tone still icy. She glanced at Blaise, who was already headed towards his bedroom. "You don't have to-"

"Trust me, I have to. I don't want to be in the middle of this. I'm perfectly fine sitting in my bedroom, doing anything I can. I'll keep the door open, so don't kill each other." Before Hermione could open her mouth to say anything, Blaise had slipped into his bedroom, completely ignoring her.

_Well he's useless. _She frowned and turned again to glare at the redhead across from her, choosing to remain standing instead of sitting like she could. Ginny's eyes were focused elsewhere, avoiding Hermione as much as possible.

"How could you?"

Ginny turned her brown eyes to Hermione, who had her fists clenched tightly against her sides, looking at this girl with pent up hate. "What," she asked, unsure what she was hinting at.

Hermione shook her head. "How could you help him," she asked quietly, still glaring at Ginny. "How could you possibly help him get into my apartment?"

The girl pursed her lips. "I'm sure your dear boyfriend as already told you everything," she said quietly. "I helped him to keep Harry away from Pansy, and in the process I lost him anyways."

"Yes, you did," she snapped. It had been over a month since the trial, more then that since the Christmas Ball. Yet she had never considered how much it hurt to be betrayed by someone she had been so close to for so long. "But that still doesn't give you the right or the damn motive to break into a house and then disappear like a coward!"

"Well I didn't know who it was," she countered, standing. "He didn't exactly tell me what we were doing!"

"Yet you followed him," Hermione continued, floored. "You were that stupid? Ginny, what the hell is wrong with you!"

"What's wrong with you," she replied, unsure what to respond with. She took a step back, afraid of getting too close. She was talking in circles, and that could only last for so long.

The brunette shook her head. "Ginny, stop acting ignorant. You're not stupid, although you're very much playing the part. How could you do this to me? How could you do this to anyone!"

"I had my reasons, Hermione," she replied, glaring. "Okay? I had my reasons! It seemed like the best option for me at the time."

"Best option?" She shook her head. "How did you even know that Pansy had feelings for Harry? I never read a gossip column about it, never heard anything at school. I never even noticed anything between them at the ball-and you were there! Honestly, how did you know Marcus was even telling the truth?" She jabbed a finger towards the girl. "You didn't," she continued, before Ginny could reply. "You simply took his word and ran with it, didn't you!"

"Are you blind? Have you not noticed who he is with now?" Her tone was bitter, but her cheeks were tinted pink.

"That's beside the point; they started getting closer once you ruined your own relationship. He didn't care about Marcus' lie Ginny! What Harry cared about was the fact that you betrayed me and didn't trust him!"

"Well I didn't want that whore stealing him away," she screamed, jumping up. "I had a right to worry!"

Granger took a deep breath. "The so-called whore you are referring to happens to be more of a friend to me at this point then you are Gin. At least she's been around, and helpful, and supportive. Pansy hasn't backstabbed anyone, she didn't even backstab you!"

"Yes she did!"

"Give me a break Gin," she snapped. "_Liking _someone isn't a sin. Pansy has as much a right to have feelings towards someone as anyone else. At least she didn't try to push you out of the picture."

The redhead laughed dryly. "Yes, she did."

"No, you pushed yourself out of the picture." Hermione held out her arms. "You chose to listen to him, and it's ended us up here."

She sat down on a chair, spent. Ginny was a problem, yes, but as they argued Hermione realized how very shallow she was being. She had done all of this, jeopardized Hermione's safety, broken the law and talked to a wanted Death Eater she supposedly hated, just to keep someone she was never in danger of losing. It was all very selfish, and just then she felt sorry for Blaise, sorry that he had picked someone so unworthy of him.

_She either needs to fix her act, or Blaise needs to drop her. If she did all of that to Harry, there's no reason why she won't step around Blaise too._

"Maybe it's better this way," she continued after a moment of silence. "Things are different now, but that doesn't mean they're worse. You wouldn't know Blaise this well if things were different."

She didn't comment.

The silence that stretched for the next few minutes felt like hours to Hermione as she contemplated how to bring up the next topic.

"You're not here to tell me how wrong I went about everything with Harry," she said quietly, looking up at her once best friend. "So what are you here for?"

She looked up into the girl's brown eyes for a moment, holding her gaze until the redhead broke away. Sighing, she spoke. "Daphne recommended I come see you."

Ginny's skin paled a bit. "Did she now?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes. You were right, I didn't come here to talk about that day my ex got in. I came to ask you about the three-way deal you had with Marcus and Astoria."

The girl blinked several times. "Excuse me?"

She sighed. "Don't play dumb Ginny, we already went over this. Daphne mentioned seeing Astoria and Marcus talking to each other, and even found pictures of Pansy and Harry in one of her bedroom drawers." She got up, walking until she was directly in front of the sitting redhead. "And you were the one that was deeply worried about Harry."

Ginny jumped up and Hermione took a step back. "You just finished telling me Harry had no interest in Pansy back then!"

"I never said they were pictures of the two _together_. These were separate pictures, maybe mailed by Marcus, because we found envelopes. Why did they have pictures passing between each other? I don't know. But Ginny, you were so undeniably sure that this would save Harry for you, yet it seems that they were orchestrating another plan right behind your back."

Her face grew red. "Shut up Hermione!"

"No," she replied, shaking her head. "You need to understand what happened. You trusted someone who couldn't be trusted, and in turn you helped him mess with my life-"

"It was one time!"

The older Gryffindor's face grew hot. "Do you even know what he tried to do?"

The redhead paused, her face softening a bit. "Yes, Harry told me one day, when I went back to try and talk to him-"

"You went back to talk to Harry?" She frowned, perplexed. "That seems rather pointless, if he is angry at you for helping with this ordeal."

She shrugged. "I had hoped he would listen to my reasoning."

"What reasoning? You tried to ensure you would keep him by making a deal, like setting a claim to someone. He's not an object, Ginny. You should have trusted Harry enough to know he would've stayed with you, before all of this." She sighed, glancing around the room. "Now you have Blaise I suppose, and so long as your careful perhaps he will stay with you, if you can build his trust."

Her eyes looked directly into Hermione's. "What?"

"Blaise still has plenty of reasons to be cautious with you Gin, you know that. I'm surprised he has taken this chance with you at all after so little time, but that's not something for me to really judge. I mean, I lived with Draco while I was still married to Flint. But at least I understood that I had to be careful." She thought for a moment. "Then again, I never pictured myself wanting Draco in any way either."

Ginny nodded, eyes moving to the wall opposite Hermione. It was quiet for a few moments, as each girl considered the words they were throwing at each other. The brunette knew that they were getting nowhere, but couldn't think of how to throw her topic back out there again. They continued arguing over unexplained issues, and all that was doing was heating the girl's tempers, which would do them no good if she planned to gain an understanding of past events.

"You don't want to know about the deal," Ginny said, looking down. "You don't want to know about any of it. Leave it at that."

She blinked; surprised the girl knew almost exactly what she had been thinking. "Of course I do. That's why I came."

The redhead shook her head again, biting her lip. "No, you honestly don't, Hermione."

"Try me Gin. This is why I'm here after all."

She sighed, before pulling out her wand, holding it in a loose grip as she walked to Blaise's open bedroom door. "Give Blaise your wand then. I don't want you hexing me."

She frowned. "Is it really that bad?"

The girl shrugged, glancing in at the Slytherin. His face was set in stone, completely ignoring the girl as he continued to read, obviously trying to stay out of all of this. "I'm not sure how you will take it."

She tilted her head, walking slowly over and setting her wand on the closet piece of furniture in the bedroom, before looking at Blaise. He seemed content to act as though they weren't screaming in his living room.

Perhaps he wouldn't feel the need to stop Hermione if she punched her old friend, just once. Instead, she turned to the girl and took a breath. "Start explaining."

* * *

><p>"Blaise, what the hell do you mean?" It was well past four when Zabini called Draco, saying that his girlfriend had pushed the other Gryffindor down and tried to kill her after a seemingly unsuccessful talk.<p>

"I'm bringing her back in a moment. She's in a bad mood Draco, and I'm sure you'll hear all about it when she arrives."

"What does that mean?"

"You'll see." The phone clicked shut, and Blaise sat back unhappily to await the arrival.

Less than a minute later, the Floo roared to life and Blaise stepped out, holding Hermione's shoulder. He blinked several times, taking in her appearance. Her shirt was slightly torn, and her cheeks were streaked with tears, whether out of frustration at something, pain or sadness he was unsure.

She pulled her arm from his loose grip and moved to the couch, ignoring both men. Blaise walked over to his friend, ignoring the seemingly depressed girl, who he knew was far from it.

"She got some interesting news from Ginny. You may not like it, but it came from her." Draco noticed that Blaise seemed rather annoyed, but chose to keep that thought to himself. "Granger came over this morning to talk to her about something Daphne brought up, and it turned into this nice long talk." He rolled his eyes.

"What did Daphne mention?"

He held up his hands. "I'm sure she'll tell you everything. But trust me, it's a long story, and unless Granger wants to be nice and give you a short version," he continued, patting Draco's back, "then good luck."

Draco frowned, watching his friend leave. Once he was gone, the blond turned his attention to the girl, who was glaring at the floor. He walked over to her, choosing to sit on the table instead of the couch with her.

It was quiet for a moment before he spoke. "So what happened?"

She sighed, explaining the argument she had had with Ginny, all the way up to them depositing their wands in the bedroom with his friend. "Then she told me about Marcus and Astoria, "she continued, trailing off.

He waited for her to continue, but the girl seemed perfectly fine finishing there, but he wasn't. He needed to understand what the hell was going on. "Hermione," he said soothingly, "what is it?"

She stood and started pacing, running her hands through her hair. "Did you know he was planning to kill me?"

The blond blinked. "Flint?" She nodded. "Well, the possibility did cross my mind sometimes. That's why I refused to leave you alone for so long."

The girl nodded again, pulling lightly on her hair. "Ginny said it was something he planned to do, for my disobedience…then he was going to run off with her!"

"What," he asked, suddenly confused. "Marcus planned to kill you…and what after that?"

She took a breath. "Marcus, he obviously planned to remove me from here that day…"

"I gathered that, or do horrible things to you on my floor," he replied, bitterness creeping into his tone.

She flinched slightly at the thought. "Yes, that was possible too. Ginny told me she only found out about things that were happening when it was too late for her to back out."

"Granger," he snapped, reaching out and rubbing her shoulder, "start over. I have no idea what you are talking about anymore."

She took a deep breath. "Ginny agreed to help him, under the impression that he would make sure Pansy didn't get near Harry, even though she never had any damn proof that she liked him! She didn't even know Astoria existed in this deal until the day before."

Draco frowned. "Okay?"

"Astoria and Marcus had very different plans. Marcus, like I said, planned to apparently take me back and kill me. I don't know if that's true, that could be Ginny overreacting and coming up with fake information. I honestly don't know what Marcus was really planning to do, but I'm sure if you had been any later, I would not have been in the apartment. Astoria and Marcus played Ginny like she played me."

Draco nodded, and she continued, pulling on her hair lightly again. "The night before they came, she found out Astoria was playing a part. When we went to court she took the blame for the picture as well as letting him in, and trying to break out of my bedroom into the rest of the apartment as well. According to Ginny, and some suspicions that Daphne had, that was Astoria's doing. She doesn't know what the girl was gaining, but she does know she was involved."

"She lied in court," the blond asked, standing. "What the hell? Who needs all this extra bullshit?"

"No one," Hermione replied. "But it seems that everyone did a good job fooling the court. With Marcus dead, there are things that need to be answered. I need to know why, simply to have an answer, and we need to know everything that involved Astoria. Maybe if we dig up the right thing, we can find where Astoria is as well. The Ministry was going to search her home anyways. I don't care if no one else ever knows about the stuff with Marcus, Draco; I just want all this to be over."

"Does this even make sense to you?"

She shook her head. "Not exactly, but I'm sure as soon as we find Astoria the gaps can be filled in and everything will make sense."

"I'm not so sure about that. I barely understood what you just told me."

"Don't worry," she said, finally sitting back down. "I'm beginning to."

He rolled his eyes. "Well of course you're beginning to."

* * *

><p>Wednesday rolled around quick. After everything that happened the day before, Hermione took the day off not only to think about the accumulating quantity of unanswered questions but also to consider calling her lawyer.<p>

"Don't call that bastard," the blond said, shaking his head. "He is rather useless."

She shrugged. "I won't be doing it for a while. I have things to discuss with you first."

He frowned. "If this is about the conversation yesterday, I'm good."

She shook her head again, grinning. "No." She leaned over and kissed him lightly, the couch warm with their body heat. "I may know a way to save your fortune."

His eyebrows shot up, nearly disappearing into the platinum blond hair of his. "How?"

"Well," she replied, leaning on his shoulder, "I was reading through it, and yes, the will is extremely detailed on what can't be done. However, it never said you couldn't change the name."

Now he was really frowning, even deeper than yesterday when she completely confused him. "What?"

"Change the name on the will. You can handover your possessions to someone you choose, strike a deal, and reclaim your fortune after the deadline. It completely erases everything mentioned there."

He was still frowning. "How will that help? You can't just sign away your inheritance to anyone. A lot of people don't agree about returning those you know."

She nodded, suddenly pulling away. "Yes, I thought of that."

"Did you now?"

She nodded again, looking up into his eyes. "I know we just started dating, so you don't have to say yes, but there is always the choice to sign it over to me. You can trust me not to steal; I really don't need that much money. And I guess you don't need a deal with me, because I'll give it back as soon as you-"

She was cut off as he suddenly swooped her up into his arms and kissed her passionately. Pulling away, he grinned. "At least I can understand you today Granger."

She blinked. "You aren't going to hex me for mentioning it then? I wasn't sure you-"

"Hermione," he said, cutting her off. His hand moved to her chin, up to her cheek to cup it. "That's the simplest idea I've heard, and someone I continuously overlooked it. You're brilliant, having realized that." His index finger smoothed over the skin on her face as he continued. "Why would I ever hex you?"

The girl shrugged. "Well, years ago, Malfoy, you would've done just that had I mentioned anything."

He shrugged. "Yes, that does sound like me." Leaning in, he kissed her again before standing. "I'll go down to the Ministry tomorrow and change it immediately, although I may need you to come with."

"Of course," she replied lightly.

Draco nodded, grasping her hand. "So Miss Granger," he continued, pulling her up. "Whatever will you do with your day off?"

"Well," she replied, playfully rolling her eyes, "I was going to think about all the issues with everything around here, but I think I can take a break for a while."

"Really now? To do what?" He began kissing her skin.

She laughed. "What do you think?"

* * *

><p>That night was not half as fun for Draco.<p>

Going to dinner with the Granger's again was alright, until her father began giving him cold looks once more. He had half a mind to tell the man off, but refrained. When the man asked him to follow him upstairs after a small dessert, he grit his teeth and obeyed.

They stopped in that same room again, the blue one fit for a child. Mr. Granger sat down on the bed, looking at the younger man in the doorway.

"How are things between you and my daughter?"

He shrugged. "As they were the last time. I think we could have had this same conversation downstairs however."

The man chuckled, clasping his hands together. "We are not up here for conversation's sake Draco."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why then?"

The man shook his head. "I'm giving you my blessing, Draco, to date my daughter, and perhaps, someday, _years _from now, marry her."

He was completely taken aback. "Excuse me? Did I hear you right?"

"Don't be cocky," he snapped, standing. "I spoke with my wife these last few weeks about you two, and she even told me that my little girl is happier than she's ever been. I may not like you very much, but I can't deny my own daughter her happiness anymore. If she chooses you, so be it. I will tolerate you, Mr. Malfoy, and maybe someday I'll even learn to like you a bit, but I have been having a difficult time entrusting her with yet another male."

Draco nodded slowly. "I understand." _He's going to learn to like me? Ha!_

Mr. Granger shrugged once more. "Be careful with my daughter, Draco, because she deserves a man who will make her the happiest girl alive."

He looked the man squarely in the eyes when he next spoke. "Perhaps I am that man then, Mr. Granger."

* * *

><p>Hermione did not understand the abrupt change in the relationship between her father and her boyfriend. However, the change was a pleasant one and she did not question it.<p>

Thursday passed by without event, the couple getting on well, relaxing lightly and trying to wash away the tension and confusion brought on by Hermione's conversation earlier in the week with Ginny.

Friday dawned and Hermione found herself calling Pansy, planning to meet up with her and Daphne later at a muggle café for lunch, hopefully to ease some of the confusion in her brain. Daphne knew Astoria best, and would be the one who would likely help with the questions swirling around her.

She was nearly out of the school when Derek Parkinson stopped her.

She was surprised to see the boy. He hadn't come to the library since admitting to helping give information to Astoria, and his appearance was unexpected.

"Hello Derek," she said kindly, walking with him. "How are you?"

"Fine."

"I'm glad to hear," she said, trying to be polite. He seemed off, a bit jumpy even. "Is anything wrong?"

He sighed. "I wanted to apologize for betraying you."

She blinked, completely surprised. "Well, I'm glad to see you're a big enough of a person to apologize for something like that, thank you."

Derek nodded. "I never thought she was so crazy. Have you read the notes?"

_The notes! I completely forgot about those! Perhaps they'll help us. _"I was planning to tonight actually."

He nodded again. "I doubt you will like them."

"I'm afraid I may agree..."

"Well, I have to get to lunch. Goodbye Granger."

She paused in her steps as he continued on. "Goodbye Mr. Parkinson." She turned on her heel and walked back to the library, having been planning to lock up, not leave.

_That sounded a lot like how Draco used to speak. It's amazing, how much these children speak like the people from my childhood too._

* * *

><p>Daphne was already there when Hermione arrived, and Pansy appeared a few minutes later. They were at a small bakery, eating pastries as the women talked.<p>

"It's going well," Pansy said, smiling widely. "He's a bit timid I think, after what happened with the Weasel girl and all, but overtime I think he'll learn to trust me more."

Hermione smiled lightly as Daphne replied, "That's great! I'm happy for you Pansy."

"Me too. He's so sweet and attentive, nothing like I thought Harry was in school. I guess I never really paid enough attention to him."

Hermione nodded. _Perhaps those are the reasons Ginny was so very much attached to him. _"Harry is different now though from how he was in school. He's not as stressed out as he used to be."

"I bet," Daphne agreed. "If I had been him, I would've lost my mind."

Pansy nodded in agreement, and Hermione actually laughed. "He almost did a few times. But Harry always saw the end of the path, and he did get there. That's why he became an Auror you know. To try and keep things like that from happening again."

The raven haired girl nodded, smiling widely. "Yes, I know. He told me yesterday."

The conversation continued, circling around the strange relationship, hardly touching Hermione's own, something she was thankful for. Eventually, as they finished their small meals, the conversation turned to the reason they were really there.

"I don't know," Daphne said after Hermione explained everything from Tuesday. "I only recently even discovered she had ties to that. She was of course trying to get Draco alone and away from you, so she could have a chance. They probably manipulated Ginny into helping by making up the story about Pansy liking Harry, so that she had incentive to go along with it. If they wanted Ginny to believe this would be beneficial to her, then Astoria couldn't be in the picture, swooning over Draco if Marcus was busy telling Ginny that Pansy would go back to him and leave Harry alone. It simply wouldn't have worked out."

"True," Hermione agreed. "It would be easy to convince Ginny of that too. She's always had a jealous streak, but I think after everything that's happened, her pride has snapped a bit. She just mopes around Blaise's house a lot from what I hear."

Pansy crinkled her nose. "Really? I had no idea Blaise got stuck dealing with her."

She shrugged. "He likes her, Pansy, so it's not horrible. I wouldn't go as far though as to say he trusts her. No, if anything, he's doing a fine job of keeping his distance from her emotionally."

Daphne nodded. "It makes sense. I can't believe though that Flint planned to kill you. I'm almost certain that was something that she exaggerated. He wouldn't go through all that sneaky trouble to end you. If anything, he would've banged on the door and barged in. If he planned to beat you, I would understand that because it would at least make some sense for his character. Ginny doesn't seem to have given you completely accurate information."

"Trust me, I figured that much."

"It doesn't explain however why Ginny would take the blame in court. Unless Astoria threatened her and she became afraid, she had no reason to take the fall."

Daphne nodded at Pansy in agreement. "Yes, but she had an Auror as a boyfriend. That should've set her mind at ease."

"Harry and Ginny had already grown apart by then," Hermione added. "She was probably afraid he wouldn't help her or something. But I am willing to bet she was ashamed and afraid of Harry's reaction more than anything. It may have made her look better, but would it matter? He made his choice before court that he would no longer keep her at his side because she had lost her mind, and she split afterward before anything could be fixed. There are probably a million reasons we can come up with as to why she didn't divulge that extra bit of information, but honestly I didn't even ask her at the time."

"I wouldn't have either," Daphne agreed. "All we know is that Ginny played a part in all of this, but she seems to be a rather useless source of information. Whatever part Astoria played in this was fashioned between her and Marcus. Seeing as Flint is dead, we'll have to find my sister to get the final answer."

Pansy nodded. "I wonder though why Ginny didn't tell Potter. I mean, it would've probably been better for her that way, but this way it's better for me." She grinned and Daphne chuckled.

"Yes, we see."

Hermione was running her fingers through her hair. "This hasn't gotten us anywhere."

The blond frowned. "What are you talking about Granger? We have plenty of facts in front of us, you should see that. We just have to figure out how they connect together to make sense of this puzzle."

"Agreed," Pansy replied, standing and grabbing her coat. "My lunch hour ended five minutes ago however, so I will have to speak with you ladies more another day."

"Monday," Daphne asked, standing as well and collecting her coat.

"Sounds good," Hermione replied, heading to the door with the two girls in tow. As they walked outside, Pansy chuckled. "What's so funny then," the Gryffindor asked.

"Imagine if someone saw us like this! Two Slytherin's, a Gryffindor, dating people from other houses, civilly talking in a _muggle _café. It would be all over the papers."

Daphne nodded and Hermione smiled. "That's why we didn't go someplace in the wizarding world." The Gryffindor walked away as she spoke, more thoughts swirling through her mind as she headed to the nearest Floo service, the other two walking in the opposite direction.

* * *

><p>Saturday morning Draco awoke with Hermione snuggled in beside him. He smiled at this, stroking her bushy hair as she slept. It felt right, lying there like that, as though all their problems didn't exist.<p>

He had changed the Will yesterday. In slightly over a weeks' time, his money would go to Hermione, and in turn he hoped to marry that woman someday.

The blond chuckled quietly to himself. He was getting ahead of things again, focusing on a future they hadn't worked up to yet. He had to stop that, because the here and now was far too hectic to overlook. He still had a list he hadn't finished, and he wanted to get started on that Monday, beginning with the thing she unfortunately no longer wore; the heavy necklace he had given her, which was now a brown instead of a red.

He frowned. With everything unfolding like it was, he almost wished she would wear it again once he explained, but he doubted she would. But with Astoria seemingly crazy and running around ramrod, he desired to know she was alright. But, the girl was a Gryffindor, and he couldn't keep a leash on her like that.

He had regrettably done that once already.

* * *

><p>It was late afternoon that Saturday when Harry came over for a few short minutes, remind the pair that they were still searching for Astoria. After confusing the hell out of Harry with the things she had found, Hermione made him promise not to tell anyone else about those things yet. They wanted facts, not estimated solutions.<p>

After he left, Hermione found herself thinking about the list again as Draco took a short nap, her kitten sneaking in to sleep on his chest. She could only imagine the reaction when he woke up later.

There were still too many unexplained things. It was slowly grating on Hermione's nerves now, to have these unanswered questions in her own apartment, while they were dealing with confusion outside of their home as well. She desperately wanted to know what those things meant; the necklace, the wand, the Manor. It didn't make sense to her, why these random things were placed together, but she wanted to know.

However, they had a date tomorrow, and she didn't want to ruin that. It would hopefully be a nice relief from the stress of everything else. No, she would wait until sometime next week, after Monday, when she could confront him.

It had been long enough.

* * *

><p>Sunday the 20th, was looked at very differently by the two parties.<p>

Hermione and Draco thought their picnic in the thankfully muggle park was charming, since the weather was just warm enough that they were able to cancel their lunch and do something unusual for them. She laughed a lot, and kissed him opening, not worried at all about being watched.

How wrong she was.

Astoria sat some distance away, the hood of a muggle jacket covering her face and hair. The whore was all over him, laughing and sharing a sandwich with him. It made her want to vomit, seeing the too looking so irritably _happy _together.

_No matter, that will be me and Draco soon enough. _She stood as the couple began packing up their picnic, shoving her hands into her pockets and brushing the smooth wood of her wand as she began walking in the opposite direction. She had been sincerely happy to have that wand with her when an idea struck her.

_Let them wonder where I've gone, when really I am in plain sight! Let them spend too much time unraveling my mystery, and then I'll strike. Granger is being so very selfish, hoarding all the rich men to herself. Well, I'll show her. Just wait and see._


	10. Week 18

**a/n: **Hello! I apologize for the late update! School was drawing to a close, and my account locked me off of it for a few days, so today is the first day I've been able to update. I hope you enjoy, and leave me a review at the end? Also, I have a new story coming out eventually, "Imagine", so if anyone else is interested in being a beta, let me know! I feel like I have put too much on my current beta's, so I'm not gonna ask them :)

Thanks to **viralanomaly **for the amazing editing work that makes this story that much better!

* * *

><p><strong>lulu: <strong>Yes, yes it is.

**Readingismypassion: **Very dramatic! I think you will find answers here though to a lot of your questions...

**I vIsItEd DrAcO lAsT nIgHt: **Yes she does...

**Bambi: **Glad that you're still interested!

**The Butterfly Effect: **It is a bit intense, isn't it? :)

**mysexylover: **That's a possibility!

**Hooker: **No no, don't explode :) As for the lawyer...you'll have to read and see.

**Jelisha Baby 22: **Here it is!

**Eric: **Both are possibilities, but I think you'll find the answer to that out later. Astoria killing Marcus? It's possible, since apparation is possible, but I'm not going to say anymore then that. The girls come together again here, and Draco? You'll have to wait and see!

**They Call Me Ginger: **Glad you enjoyed it! And don't worry...you'll see those very soon.

**Cravin' Kat: **Right now... Sorry, didn't know how to reply to an anonymous review except right here!

* * *

><p><strong>February 21-February 27<strong>

* * *

><p>Monday morning, Astoria awoke in a cold sweat from her nightmare. She sprung up in the used bed, eyes dancing around the room quickly. <em>Fucking muggles.<em>

She stood on shaky legs, rushing to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face before she tried to look herself in the mirror. There were bags under her eyes, a slight red mark that was turning purple from his resistance. She gingerly touched the skin there, flinching.

She washed quickly and dressed in the same outfit she kept magically cleaning. It was so annoying really, to not have the luxury of other clothes. Now she understood how poor people felt.

She sat on the hotel bed for a long time, planning her next move. She needed to catch one of them by themselves, but who? Slowly, a smile crept onto her face as she realized exactly what she should do.

_Perfect._

* * *

><p>Hermione was happy to go find the Slytherin girls that Monday during her lunch hour again. School was becoming tedious, not because of the mass amount of books she kept dealing with but because she was spending an awful lot of time staring at Draco's checklist, five items still out in the open, and her mind couldn't stop wondering what exactly they meant.<p>

_Especially that necklace. _It now lay in the bottom of her bag. She had been studying it all morning.

As soon as she entered the café, she spotted the two girls already sitting at a table, chatting amongst themselves. She walked over, taking the last available seat and sipped her water for a moment.

"Hello Hermione," Daphne said politely, playing with the straw of her drink. "It's nice to see you again."

"And you," she replied, also nodding in Pansy's direction.

"Have you talked to Ginny again since last week," Pansy continued, looking over the menu.

She shook her head. "I haven't bothered. She doesn't understand anything anymore then we do."

"We barely know anything," Pansy muttered.

The blond across from them nodded. "Ginny was involved somehow, but she got screwed out of her part of the deal by Astoria and Marcus, although she never originally knew that my sister was part of it. Yet, she took the blame for Astoria's actions anyways, which doesn't make sense. She also took a chance with her relationship with Potter and lost."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, but that doesn't tell us anything, not really. It doesn't explain my estranged husband's death and it doesn't help us find Astoria either."

"Nor does it make sense for him to want to kill you right after retrieving you."

The brunette shrugged. "I don't know, Pansy. I've never really understood my ex-husband. He had his own ideas, own way of looking at things. Obviously, I wasn't dominant in that relationship." She unconsciously began rubbing her arm, remembering a time in her life that hadn't been so nice.

Pansy squeezed her hand. "I'm not going to pretend I understand what happened to you with him, but it's over now."

"Yes, I know," she sighed. "But we're not discussing me, we're discussing _them. _Ginny and Marcus and Astoria, the ones we don't understand."

Daphne nodded. "I have no idea where to begin with that. The fact that there was a third party in that incident at all is surprising-and it's awfully disturbing that it's my own sister." She shook her head. "I can't believe I never noticed anything. Astoria did seem a bit off, edgy even, but I never really thought about it. I guess I haven't focused much on her actions since my mother got sick."

The raven-haired girl smiled sadly. "Of course not. But noticing back then probably wouldn't have done any good. Your sister seems to have done a wonderful job hiding herself in this situation." She paused, frowning. "Hermione, how exactly will this help us find Astoria? Everything you heard was from Ginny Weasley. I'm confused now, what are you looking for?"

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know. I need to understand Ginny's motives, ideas, everything, before I trust her to help me find Astoria. I don't much care for her, I simply don't want her being a bother anymore. Besides," she continued, looking pointedly at the blond, "even you think she should be committed."

She nodded stiffly. "If it'll help her. I'm not quite sure when my sister evolved into this possessed monster, but I'm willing to bet that as soon as Flint came around her obsession skyrocketed once again."

"That would make sense. If Marcus needed her help, then he would've filled her head with fantasies straight out of her childhood." Hermione traced her finger on the table, thinking. "It just doesn't add up!"

"Nothing does," Pansy sighed. "But I think you should talk to Ginny again, she is, after all, the only help you can get."

Hermione bit her lip, looking down. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

"And why not?"

The brunette sighed. "She wouldn't tell me something, something about Marcus. I have no idea what it was, but she is withholding something and it makes me very uneasy about trusting her. Something's not right, and she won't tell me. I mean, she could even know where Astoria is and what she is up to and could be withholding the information!"

Daphne sighed. "You'll still need to talk to her sometime, if we can't figure anything out."

Hermione nodded sadly. "Yes, I know."

* * *

><p>Draco found the better half of his Monday being spent in front of the list; reading it over and over and trying to come up with some sort of way to get everything done.<p>

First and foremost, he was way overdue with his explanation on the necklace from over two months ago.

He sighed. Planning a dinner hadn't worked, planning a time hadn't worked, and every time he thought he had a perfect way to blow everything over, something happened and he was once again not answering the unasked question.

He threw the list down, glaring. _Fine, I suppose if nothing else is working, I'll just spring it on her!_

* * *

><p>The rest of Monday passed by easily for everyone. Hermione had magically locked all the doors when a reporter came by just after dinner to ask her about how she was feeling with the death of her ex-husband. It was funny, but reporters seemed more interested in her now that Flint's fortune had to go someplace then when he was arrested for beating her.<p>

_Ironic._

Tuesday, Hermione sent an owl out from work, hoping to get a reply before the end of the day.

_Ginny-_

_I was wondering if you would meet me for lunch sometime this week. I feel we still have things to discuss, and I would like to draw this entire Marcus situation to a close. Hopefully, you feel the same. Also, if you know anything more about Astoria, owl me. The Ministry told Harry yesterday that they would have to try something else today if nothing new was discovered._

_-Hermione_

She frowned, and debated removing some of that information twice before simply giving up and sending it. Why bother? She would end up explaining one way or another.

Hermione was packing up for the day when another owl flew through the window.

_Hermione-_

_Come to the Ministry, Draco is already here. I need to talk to both of you._

_-Harry_

She groaned. This was going to be another complicated mess, wasn't it? _It probably has something to do with Astoria, or maybe Ginny lost her mind again. What else could be going on now?_

She packed up her things and closed the library, still pondering what was happening now.

* * *

><p>Draco's head snapped around to look at the door, smiling slightly when he saw Hermione walk through it, looking rather tired. He stood and took the bag off her shoulder, setting it at her side as she sat down.<p>

She frowned. "Where's Harry?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, hello to you too."

She glanced at him. "Hi. Where's Harry? He said he needed to talk to the both of us."

"Yes, I know. I was there."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "So where is he then?"

Draco chuckled, reaching over to gently rub her shoulder. "Don't worry, he'll be along in a moment. Had to drop something off."

She nodded, twirling a piece of hair in her fingers, before she crossed and re-crossed her legs. She leaned forwards, the back, leaned against him then away, and finally Draco had had enough. "What are you doing?"

The brunette sighed. "He's probably going to deliver more bad news."

The blond's eyebrows knit together, and he turned hi body towards hers, clasping her hands. "Hermione, I'm the one that's supposed to be the pessimist. Don't worry so much about what Potter's going to tell us, it could actually be good, you know?"

She sighed. "Yes, but what if its something else? Last time I saw him, we talked about Astoria and my estranged husband, and Ginny being this terrible person. Before that it was all about getting Marcus arrested. We haven't talked about anything good in months. I'm tired of the constant stress of all of this."

He nodded, reaching out and clasping her chin between his fingers, forcing her to look up. "Again, don't worry. Whatever Potter has to say, it'll get better someday."

Hermione laughed then. "Everything's backwards, huh? You're supposed to scowl and hate Harry, and I'm supposed to believe in him. Everything has changed."

She watched in surprise as he drug her hand up to his lips and lightly placed a kiss on her knuckles. She raised an eyebrow as he smirked against her skin. "What?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're acting so weird today Draco."

He smiled as the door opened. "I'm trying to ease your worries before you develop some terrible worry lines."

Harry Potter sat down opposite the two, ignoring the strange exchange they were having. He tossed aside a stack of papers and waited until Draco turned back to face him in the chair, fingers entwined with Hermione's.

The raven haired boy sighed. "I have good and bad news. The bad news is that there has been no headway finding Astoria. The good is that the Ministry is administering a tracking charm on her magic that will be ready soon in the next few days-"

"Few days," Draco snapped, eyebrows growing together again. "When we were kids it was automatic."

"Yes, but it's automatic to _every _underage wizard, whereas when you come to age the tracking device is mute. The only exceptions are cases like this and ex Death Eater's that have yet to be captured." He glanced at Draco. "Or have yet to change sides and denounce their motives."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, but Harry, the tracking spell shouldn't take that long to administer. I've done a few myself. They take maybe a few minutes."

The boy sighed. "That's where complications come in." She arched an eyebrow as he continued. "Astoria has been running rampant, working alongside your deceased ex and Ginny Weasley for a while. The problem is she has been using Flint's wand. When we went back to check her wand the first time, we located it in Azkaban Prison. I have no idea what that exactly entails, but she has not been using her wand. When we tried to locate Flint's, we found only the wand, not the witch."

The people adjacent to Harry frowned. "She's been using other wizards wands then," Hermione concluded. "That's terrible."

He nodded. "That's only if she is currently using a wand."

Draco shook his head. "Magic lives in the person, not the wand. It shouldn't bloody matter who's wand she is using."

"But it does," Harry snapped. "She is running around with another wand, and she has apparently done her homework. The last spell cast from Flint's wand was a cloaking spell, making it hard to track her. If she has been using another wand-and I'm positive she did if only for this purpose-then it doubles the strength of the spell. Usually, wizards don't use this because it can diminish your overall magical strength, bonding your magic with someone else's solely to avoid capture. Its not the most productive tactic, but Astoria doesn't seem to care. She's hiding herself for one reason or another."

"Maybe more then one," Hermione muttered.

Harry frowned. "What do you mean?"

Her brown eyes turned up to look into his green ones. "Well, she's been interfering in my life, Draco's, everyone's. Now Daphne wants to report her for possibly being clinically insane. Most people would try to hide, Harry."

"Not everyone."

"No, not everyone," she sighed. "But lots of people." He nodded.

"So in a few days we should be able to find her," Draco asked.

"As long as we can locate her. If she keeps cloaking herself it will take more time. But at least when we do find her, she'll be weaker. Besides, once you reach the tenth cloak, the shielding breaks, although most people don't know that. Her magic can simply not withstand splitting that many times, and by then will have dwindled down to nearly nothing."

"You can actually run out of magic," Draco asked, horrified. "That can't be possible, its something you're born with."

"Yes, but stretching things too far can cause them to run out. If Astoria isn't careful she could run into that problem at some point. It will be the next easiest way to find her, because once she can't do magic anymore, she can't run."

"But you wouldn't be able to track her anymore, either," Hermione added.

Potter nodded grimly. "That's the problem. We also won't be able to estimate how close she is to losing her magic. Unless someone runs into a muggle Astoria Greengrass, the ministry has a difficult time tracking those things."

Draco was scowling by then. "That's hardly good news Potter."

He sighed. "I know, but it's all we have. If Astoria is mad, then she's madly brilliant. At the very least, she is smart enough to not leave an obvious trail for us."

"But it's unfortunate," Hermione said quietly.

* * *

><p>By the time the couple made it back to the flat, Hermione looked completely defeated. Draco sat her down in their bedroom and forced her to look at him, casting her work bag aside.<p>

"Granger," he breathed, looking into her eyes. "Stop being so damn distant. It's sad to watch."

She sighed. "I told you Draco-I'm worried. Everything seems to just be getting worse."

He nodded knowingly. "It will to get better someday, you know, Hermione."

The girl threw her arms up, jumping off the bed to pace. "And when will that be? When has anything gone according to plan? Don't answer that! It won't do us any good now." She was running her fingers roughly through her hair, distressed. "Nothing has gone right lately, Draco, just like I told you. Now it's even more distressing, knowing the Ministry could possibly locate her if these damn cloaking spells weren't being enacted! What is a cloaking spell anyways? I've heard of them-but never like this! And Astoria would be smart enough to go around, tossing away other wizards' wands, when this is the one time we need her to be utterly stupid! Everything is a mess right now, and its not getting ay better by-"

Draco cut Hermione off by jumping up, dragging her into a kiss. If she kept talking like that she was going to work herself up into a fit. His hands came up to hold her face, the girl's finding his blond hair and holding it in a vise-like grip. He slid his tongue across her lips, and she eagerly opened her mouth, enjoying the feel of his tongue sliding over hers. She quietly moaned into his mouth.

He pulled back smirking, resting his head against hers. "You talk an awful lot, Granger."

She smiled, leaning up to capture his lips again. She felt him moving backwards towards the bed, and seconds later felt their bodies falling, hers landing on top of his lightly as they continued to kiss, sweet kisses turning to far more heated ones.

Before long, she was straddling his waist, smiling down at him as he grinned back up at her. He was about to remove her now exposed bra when his movements suddenly stilled. Hermione frowned, looking down at him before he abruptly rolled her over and snatched his wand out of his pocket.

"Draco-"

"Hold on," he hissed, standing, still fully clothed, and walked to the bedroom window peering out.

"What is it," she asked, arms wrapped around her upper body as her eyes sought out her own shirt.

He shook his head. "I thought I saw something."

The brunette smiled lightly, standing up and walking to his side, lowering his wand slowly. "We're in an apartment; there's no one out there."

He practically snorted at that, and the action completely caught Hermione off guard. "Do you forget Granger? We're in the wizarding world-anything's possible."

"True," she replied, stepping lightly behind him, searching her own pockets for her missing wand. He continued to study the outside world as the witch realized her wand was in the same place as her shirt; discarded on the floor. She quickly retrieved it, turning back to run straight into the blond's chest.

"Didn't see anything then," she asked, glancing over.

He shook his head. "I've put up a few extra spells, just in case." He cupped her cheek, his eyes dark. "Now where were we?"

She took a step back from him. "Draco, I'm not doing anything with someone possibly watching. That's awfully creepy."

He rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, no one's there."

She frowned, scooting past him to set her wand on the bedside table, before falling down onto the covers. "I believed that before you reminded me about the magic bit."

Draco chuckled, sitting down on the bed beside her, wand twirling between his fingers. "Forgetting already about that, are we?"

She rolled her eyes. "Hardly. I just wasn't focused on that just then."

"But now you are," he groaned.

Hermione grinned up widely at him. "Of course," she replied, leaning up on one elbow, "And it's all because of you."

He frowned. "I'll remember to keep my mouth shut next time."

She giggled. "I doubt that. You can talk as much as me."

He clicked his tongue. "No one can talk as much as you."

She gasped, sitting up in an over dramatic manor. "Shut up, Mr. Malfoy!"

Draco chuckled, wrapping his arms around her middle and dragging her down into the sheets, wand forgotten. "Make me."

* * *

><p>The youngest Greengrass was livid, as she hovered just outside the bedroom window, watching the two roll around on his bed, fucking each other's brains out. She couldn't look away though, not from the blond that captivated her every thought.<p>

Many would call her sick, twisted, creepy, but she didn't see it that way, not at all. It sickened _her _to watch the tramp with her love, but no matter. He would be hers soon enough.

Astoria Greengrass didn't see anything twisted about her actions, not at all. No, in fact, to her, this was love. Her love, confused and tricked into falling for the bushy-haired girl that now slept beside him. But no matter, no matter at all.

She had her plan, now it was just about timing. With a twisted smirk taking over her features, she turned the other wizards broom and flew upwards, away from the pair before one of them stirred.

* * *

><p>Wednesday morning Hermione awoke, still feeling terribly stressed but pleasantly satisfied. Draco kissed her neck as she departed for work, telling her he had some things to take care of that day, and not to worry if he wasn't around right away when she returned.<p>

As soon as his witch left, he flipped open that stupid muggle phone and called Theo.

"What could you possibly want at this hour, Malfoy," Theo asked the moment he answered, his tiredness evident from the sound of his voice.

"I need a favor," Draco replied, looking down at the useless necklace he had taken from Hermione's bag just yesterday, when she was busy going on about her fears. "I need a decent recipe."

* * *

><p>The brunette returned to the apartment around the usual time that night, feeling rather out of place as she stepped into a room that had a marvelous dinner set out, twin candles set on the table. She frowned. <em>What's going on?<em>

"Draco," she called, shrugging off her coat. "Draco, are you here?" She glanced around the empty apartment, noticing that he wasn't in the kitchen or the living room. Frowning, she walked towards the bedroom and flung the door open.

_He's not here either? _She set her bag down, thinking it rather strange that he would leave food and fire sitting out if he weren't someplace in the vicinity.

"Draco," she called again, peering around the bedroom and bath. He was nowhere in there, and she hesitantly stepped out, a bit worried now. As she began to head back into the living room she noticed her old bedroom door open down the hall. Curious, she headed there.

"You could respond, you know," she said, stepping up to the brooding blond. The room was stripped, her personal items residing in his room now. Her furniture was still in there though, so that she had some just in case she found herself homeless again. He was sitting on her bed, staring out the window, and didn't reply when she spoke.

"Draco," she asked again, crouching down beside him. "Are you alright?"

He let out a heavy sigh, and Hermione was just relieved that he gave her some sort of sign that he was actually noticing her presence. Several seconds passed before he turned his head and looked down into her brown eyes.

Her hand came up to brush against his cheek, worried about this uncharacteristic behavior. She hadn't seen him so expressionless in a while. His hand came up to find hers, pressing it against the smooth skin of his pale cheek, eyes never moving from hers.

She was about to say something again when he finally spoke. "You're a bit cold, Granger."

The girl blinked, completely confused. "What?"

He pressed her hand harder against his cheek. "Cold. Your skin is rather cold."

"Oh," she replied, realizing what he meant. "It's February, Draco, the weather is rather chilly."

He gave her a small smile. "I suppose it is." The blond stood, before pulling her gently to her feet. "Dinner's ready-I cooked for once."

Her eyes widened a bit. "And it will be safe for me to eat this?"

Draco grinned. "Of course. I would never try to harm you."

She nodded, following the blond into the other room wordlessly. Her mind was in full gear, curious about his strange behavior and odd conversation starter. _What on earth is all this about?_

He sat down on the couch, Hermione sitting beside him. "I cast a warming charm on the food, so its still perfectly fine to eat."

She nodded, looking at the meal. "But why did you cook in the first place?"

The blond's expression didn't waver. Waking up that morning, he had made the decision to tell Hermione the secret he knew bothered her most. He had even called Theo for assistance on food, and now he realized the preparation had probably been overdone. He was thinking about all of this far too much, just like his girlfriend had done the previous night when her brain went into overdrive with the multitude of problems lingering around them.

He vaguely realized that Granger's confused expression had deepened in his silence,. The blond sighed, running fingers through his hair. He was feeling the weight as well. "I'm stressed, Hermione."

She frowned, tilting her head. "About what?"

"Everything," he replied, shaking his head. "Astoria, your inheritance from Flint, keeping you safe, and every other little thing that's been happening lately. I have a lot more to worry about than you think."

She grimaced. _You might be surprised at what I know. _"Then tell me," she urged. "Don't stress yourself out with fancy dinners and over-thinking things. That's my job." She gave him a soft smile he couldn't quite return.

The blond continued to shake his head as he dug through his pocket, pulling out the necklace he had given to her so long ago. "Do you even remember why I gave you this?"

"Of course," she replied, heart beating faster in anticipation at actually getting to learn something about the piece of jewelry. "To try and keep me safe when Flint was still looking for me."

He duly noted the pained look that fell across her face when she spoke his name, and the fact that she used his last name instead of first. "Exactly," he breathed, reaching out a hand to stroke her collarbone. "That was its sole purpose."

"I understand," she replied, frowning. He appeared lost in his own thoughts just then.

There was a pregnant pause before he spoke again. "Do you know the kind of magic I used for that?" She shook her head quickly, curls bouncing back and forth in a cute fashion. He pursed his lips before continuing. "You know my family is French, right?"

Now she was confused. She of course knew the Malfoy's had once lived in France, mostly because Draco had told her once. "Yes?"

"Well, the spell I used is German. It's called the kaltblütig."

She frowned. "What?"

"It means in cold blood."

Now she was completely thrown, and gave him an uncertain smile before she spoke. "In cold blood? What does that have to do with anything?"

He nodded towards the amulet. "Use that brain of yours, Granger. The necklace was originally livid orange-red, and as time passed-"

"It faded," she replied, standing up quickly. "It's brown now, like blood turns when its old and dried," she continued eyes wide.

He held up his hands. "Let me explain, Hermione, please. I swear its not nearly as disturbing as you think?"

"Disturbing," she asked, eyes still wide. "You gave me a bloody amulet, literally."

"True," he agreed, having predicted her unhappy reaction. "But it wasn't dangerous-even violating. The only reason the necklace could call me is because its a _part of me_, laced with magic to create a pull when you were in danger."

Her eyes were still a bit larger then normal, but a flicker of interest passed through them. He could practically see the gears turning in her head, interested with the different type of magic and itching to know more, while the female side of her shied away from the idea of his blood in a pendent around her neck, almost binding her to him.

"In cold blood," she began, after a long pause, "its called in cold blood because you have to use your own blood to follow me."

"Not follow," he corrected quickly. "Unless you grasp the necklace I have absolutely no idea where you are. You chose whether or not I got to know. The only thing it ever let me know was whether or not you were in danger, simply by giving me a terrible feeling in my gut. Nothing more."

She still looked completely thrown. "And my blood? It wasn't-"

"It's only my blood, Hermione. I didn't need yours for this."

She nodded, thinking it over. So it was a bit creepy to know he gave her a necklace filled with blood for her own protection, but at least it had a good purpose. He had done it to try and help her. "You could've told me that's how it worked in the beginning," she replied, eyes looking into his.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Would you really have worn it then? It was difficult to get it on you in the first place. And you hardly trusted me then, I'm sure if you had known that it worked because of blood, you would've thrown it back at me and stormed out of here, sure I was completely insane."

She nodded stiffly. True, she probably would've bolted at the strange request, but things were completely different now. She sat back down and crossed her legs, still looking at him. "Why did you do it," she finally asked.

He blinked. "What?"

"Why did you do it?"

The blond frowned. "What? Give you the necklace?"

She nodded. "I understand you gave it to me to protect me, but giving me your own blood to carry around in a necklace seems pretty deep," she said, raising her own eyebrow.

He sighed. "I realized something was seriously wrong Granger, after your repeated returns to the apartment banged up. I couldn't deny that I wanted you, if only physically, and the thought of something terrible happening to you strangely turned my stomach at the time." He shrugged. "I was propelled to be helpful, Hermione, and without that necklace your life would've turned out very different."

Hermione nodded, unable to deny that. "You're right," she agreed, giving him a real smile. "I should thank you then for being considerate."

His eyes widened. "That's it? No questions about the magic I used, no scolding for not telling you before, no ranting about-"

The girl leaned forwards and kissed him. "You talk too much, Malfoy."

He smirked. "Not as much as you Granger."

Her smile softened, and her dainty hand clasped his larger one. "Just, don't ask me to wear it again," she said, looking at the necklace with disdain. "Now that I know how it works, I'm not excited to put it back on."

Draco chuckled. "I knew you would say something like that anyways," he replied, tossing the useless amulet off the couch and dragging her closer.

* * *

><p>Draco was pleased the next morning when he woke up, having been expecting a far worse reaction on Hermione's part. She was still asleep beside him, having decided to take the day off because she apparently 'had a guest coming'.<p>

He wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

The blond soon fell back asleep, waking up around ten to persistent knocking on the front door. Hermione had also apparently ignored the morning's call, and chosen to sleep in. She sat up quickly in nothing but her bra and panties, and Draco quickly threw a blanket back over her as he rubbed sleep from his eyes.

"So who's at the door," he grumbled sitting up.

The girl bit her lip, blinking away the last of her tiredness. She looked rather unsure about telling him. The blond raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to reply with folded arms from his sitting position. She was quiet for another couple seconds before she spoke. "Mr. Gilmer..."

Draco's eyes narrowed into slits, remembering the perverted lawyer quiet well, his distinct mark left on Draco the moment he met the man, who was completely obsessed with his girlfriend:

_"Hello, Hermione," he said brightly as he led her to the couch. As he sat her down beside him Draco leaned over the back of the couch, watching closely and receiving dirty looks from Hermione that he found amusing. "I brought the papers! I finally found them, but I didn't realize your...err...boy-"_

_"Roommate," Hermione interjected quickly and Draco again noticed his reaction, which consisted of a look of relief and lust._

_"Your roommate would be here."_

_"Is that a problem?"_

_"No," Hermione said quickly, knowing already Draco had picked up on the old mans basic ways. "The papers?"_

_"Yes, yes I have them right here." He took out a few papers and handed them to her along with a pen. She bent over the coffee table to begin to sign them and Mr. Gilmer's eyes reverted to her ass. "Its highly unusual for me to make a house call like this, but you're a special client of mine, Hermione."_

_"Thank you," Hermione said with a bit of uncertainty and Draco rolled his eyes. "Is this all of them?"_

_"Yes, all the ones I need your signature on and then I just have to get-"_

_"Them to the courthouse," Hermione interjected simply, flipping to another page. Draco glanced over and caught one major word on the page._

_"Yes of course." His hands had slowly begun to slide across the couch, and he found his head throbbing a moment later. "Ah!"_

_"I wouldn't do that," Draco said simply, stretching._

"I swear, Hermione, if he tries anything the man's not going to leave in the same condition he came in."

"Be nice, Draco," she said, jumping out of bed as a second knock sounded, throwing on a robe and rushing out. Draco followed, throwing on a pair of shorts as he chased after her, horrified.

"Put something else on, Granger!"

"It'll just take a minute," Hermione replied, clutching the front of the robe tightly as she opened the door, Draco's shorts finally on. He walked up behind her and placed a protective set of arms around her.

The balding man's face appeared as she opened the door, and the smile quickly dropped from his face as he caught sight of the couple. "Hello Hermione...Erm, Mr. Malfoy," he said, spotting the pair.

"Hello," Hermione replied stiffly, stepping aside to let the man in, Draco's vise-like grip a bit annoying just then. "How have you been?"

"Very good, thank you," he replied, looking rather disappointed that the large fluffy bathrobe hid her body. Draco smirked at the look, happy she was at least covered.

"Please take a seat," she continued, prying Draco's arms off of her, making him settle for gripping her hand. The couple took a seat beside the man on the couch, Draco in between of course, before Hermione continued speaking. "I called you here to ask if anything had been found out about Marcus Flint's will, since you refused to do it over the phone." She caught Draco's annoyed look from the corner of her eyes.

The elder man nodded. "Yes. It seems that before Mr. Flint was imprisoned, he had the will changed so his inheritance went to a different person. Mr. Flint must not have wanted you to get anything, because the will was changed back in April of last year."

Her eyes widened. They had still been _married _then, and he still had a firm hold on her. There wasn't exactly a reason to change the will unless he simply wanted to. She looked the man in the eyes. "Do you happen to know who the money went to? Don't mistake my actions, Mr. Gilmer, I'm not looking for money of any sort. I actually ended up coming in contact with a lot recently." Hermione and Draco shared a sly glance then that the lawyer didn't understand. "I'm just wondering who the money has gone to, because we are currently going through a rather annoying set of riddles trying to locate someone."

The man nodded. "Usually it would not be at my disclosure to reveal information such as this, but the Ministry contacted me Tuesday morning stating how important it was that I tell you what I can, because you are indeed involved in something. The will was changed so everything went to Astoria Greengrass."

* * *

><p>Mr. Gilmer had left quickly after that, and Hermione had gone on talking again about how terrible that was for all of them. Now there was something else to deal with, and she couldn't begin to understand why Marcus chose Astoria.<p>

"He might've been having an affair," Draco had stated at some point, the hardness in his eyes showing that he didn't approve.

She had only shrugged. "He had multiple affairs. But why was Astoria always so important? Why her, Draco?"

"I don't know."

That's how they had left the conversation, and since then it had been rather quiet in the apartment, the two caught up in their own thoughts.

Hermione couldn't stop the hurting feeling in her chest that she had been cheated on with this mental girl, while Marcus constantly degraded her for simple things like tripping. It was ironic really, how very much he had learned to hate his wife but seemed to cherish his whores.

She shook her head, trying to distract herself again. Really, she wanted to go back to the Greengrass mansion and look around for clues, but both Harry and Draco had told her since the departure of Astoria that that was not a good idea. If she returned for some reason while Hermione was there, they would never forgive themselves, and she didn't really want them coming with. She wanted to go because she needed to think on her own and look at the place again. Taking someone with could distract her and she didn't want that. Everyone's best-kept secrets led back to their home, and if Astoria had been associated with Marcus, the clues had to be there.

_Hopefully I won't find some creepy shrine dedicated to Draco. _She cringed that the thought. You never really wanted to know who out there worshipped your boyfriend like a god.

By Friday the atmosphere in the apartment hadn't changed, and Hermione awoke on the couch where she had fallen asleep the night before, a blanket thrown over her by Draco. She was surprised to find an owl perched outside the living room window, looking terribly cold.

She jumped up from the couch and quickly opened the glass, shivering as the frigid air hit her warm skin. Petting the animal, she removed the note tied to its leg and read;

_Hermione and Ferret-_

_We have been unable to locate Greengrass yet. Unfortunately, she is doing a rather good job at hiding herself. In fact, whenever we try to search for her, bits of her magic pop up all over the place. I don't think the girl has been staying still. The Ministry is doing everything we can to find her, but the idiots here aren't working fast enough for my taste. I'll owl you again if and when we find something more._

_-Harry_

_P.S-_

_Pansy wants to see you, I have no idea why._

Hermione instantly snapped up a quill and parchment, writing a quick response to Harry, telling Pansy to come by the apartment sometime tomorrow. She gave the bird a treat before sending it off and going to wake Draco.

The blond was in a bad mood that morning, and it took ten minutes to rouse him enough to actually read and understand the note. When he finished he was scowling.

"I swear, the Ministry had never done anything good," he grumbled, finally getting out of the bed.

Hermione frowned. "You used to work at the Ministry, you hypocrite."

He waved his hand. "That's because when I worked there, shit actually got done."

"Yeah," she replied, rolling her eyes and hugging a blanket to her chilled body. "Before your magic got suspended right ?Which by the way, how did that even happen?"

Draco completely stalled in his movements, looking back at the witch. Her hair lay haphazardly around her head, in need of a good brushing. The question that had just slipped through her lips was one he had been anticipating since he became roommates with the Gryffindor months ago. Why she had waited so long to ask he would never understand.

Truthfully, he had been wondering how to get that one checked off of his list. It would be rather strange to sit there and strike up a conversation beginning with "So do you want to know why the Ministry of Magic has suspended my magic..." but now he had a way to tell her.

The question was, how? He had no idea how to tell her, since telling a women private things about his life wasn't something he had experience with. True, he had told her about the necklace just two days ago, but this was different.

_It is different isn't it? It was a mistake, something that made me learn to live like a muggle, and change my attitude. I did nothing wrong back then, just lost control. That can't weird her out half as much as the blood necklace._

He went and sat back down, holding her hands in his lap. "I lost control one day, Hermione."

She frowned. "Explain."

"We were out looking for a Death Eater," he began, taking a breath. "It was myself, Potter, Cunningham and another Auror. We had finally located the bastard and were going to take him in, when he had to start bothering me. Saying all this shit about my fake allegiance to the Dark Lord, things about my mother, really awful things Granger. I wanted to kill him."

Her frown deepened. "So you tried?"

Draco nodded, his blond fringe falling over one eye. "I lost control, Hermione. When someone pushes you to the brink of explosion, you have to snap. The wizard was pushing me in the wrong direction, and I cracked." He looked away from her, at the mirror. "Potter stopped me. When I started saying the curse, he stupefied me and arrested the Death Eater. I got yelled at for hours by him, it gave me the worst headache I've ever had, I swear. Eventually I had to go to trial for being a former Death Eater and attempting the killing curse. I lost my magic, and you came into my life before I got it back." He shrugged. "It's not that complicated really, but not something I'm proud of."

Hermione sat quietly, studying him. The blond looked rather ashamed of what he had done, even if nothing had actually happened that day. "It doesn't matter, Draco, the important thing is that you didn't go through with it."

"Like I had a choice," he said bitterly. "Even if I had, I don't think I could've done it. I couldn't do it in sixth year, and I doubt I could do it then. Killing someone is serious, Hermione, and I'm not exactly thrilled at the thought."

"I recall you wanting to kill Flint on numerous occasions. And Ron, and Mr. Gilmer."

He chuckled. "Maybe not kill, just fuck over their lives a little bit."

She reached over and lightly smacked him. "That's still horrible!"

He shrugged, standing again. "I'm going to take a shower," he called over his shoulder, walking to the bathroom door.

The brunette frowned. He was ignoring a large part of the story. "Draco?"

"Yes," he replied, turning on the shower but leaving the door open to hear her.

She bit her lip. "Who was the Death Eater."

There was a long pause, during which time Hermione wondered if he planned on answering her question at all. When she was about to give up and go make breakfast again his voice rang out, "My father."

* * *

><p>Friday night, Ginny Weasley woke up alone in bed. The shower was running in the bathroom, and she knew Blaise wouldn't appreciate her stepping in to join him.<p>

They had been doing an off-and-on thing for a while now. Whenever she seemed to be doing anything shady or bring up anything about Hermione, he would block her off and go do his own thing. It was blatantly apparent that he had no desire to live with the girl that had been cruel enough to give her one time best friend up to her abusive lover. If she could change, he had agreed to date her, but the monster that she currently was didn't work into his life.

She sighed and buried her face into the pillows. He hated her, at least for what she had done, but she could always see the lustful look in his eyes whenever she came into his apartment, and it couldn't be denied that the Italian was attracted to her. The question remained however of whether or not their relationship would actually get anywhere.

Their relationship had been going well for a while, when things were calm for Draco and Hermione. But when Astoria really began to become a problem, he had distanced himself from her because of the ties she might still have to the sadistic blond. Truth be told, she hadn't had contact with Astoria Greengrass, ever, really. It had been Marcus she had spoken with, not the girl, and looking back she realized it was a mistake to get closer to the blond in case something like this happened.

_It was a mistake to get involved with Marcus Flint at all. _She sank further into the pillows.

The bathroom door opened, and out stepped Blaise Zabini, dressed now and glancing at the girls naked body, turned away from him. She was seemingly trying to disappear into the covers, but to no avail. Sighing, he walked over and pulled her out of the sheets to rest in his lap.

"Hiding won't do any good," he said, glancing down at her face. She had it pressed firmly into his chest to avoid eye contact. "In fact, the weak ones hide from a fight they could obvious help with."

Her head shot up, cheeks slightly red. No one called her weak. "I'm not hiding Blaise. I don't want to get involved and be attacked from both sides."

"How would you be attacked from both sides," he questioned.

She sighed. "Hermione and Harry and everyone still don't completely trust me, and I don't blame them. Even you look down at me with doubtful eyes sometimes. No one believes that I can have a heart and I _can _realize my mistakes enough to try and fix them. But let's face it, Astoria obviously never needed me for much anyways, and is going to assume I'm on your side. I don't want to be yelled at by everyone!" She rolled out of his arms, putting space between them and lying in a heap.

Blaise pursed his lips. He wanted to ravish her again, but more importantly he wanted to make her feel better and whisper nothings to her, but he reminded himself he had to be careful. When the redhead finally took action and really provided some help, he would be able to fully trust her. Until then he was hesitant to give away too many emotions to her.

Still, looking at the sad heap on the other side of his bed tore at his heart. Ignoring his inner conflict, he spoke. "Only you can decide who will yell you know."

Her head snapped up again. "What does that mean?"

He chuckled. "If you actually help Hermione and Draco, no one on this side will have reason to fight you. There would only be one voice yelling hatred at you, and she is very much alone in this."

Ginny gave him a tight smile. "How? I told Hermione all that I know, and it hasn't helped! Like I said, Marcus and Astoria only used me for their benefit, and I was too blind then to see that. Now I can't be of any use to anyone!" She threw her head back down.

His eyes rolled. "Stop being so dramatic. Just because you can't supply information doesn't mean you can't help. If you actually spoke to Hermione, you two might be able to figure something out. Hell, invite Daphne to join. The three of you talked the most to Astoria and Marcus, surely you three could come up with some sort of reason for everything. Maybe you could even figure out where she is."

The redhead looked up hopefully. "You actually think she would talk to me."

Blaise shrugged, reaching out to run a finger down her back. "She did come to you before."

The girl jumped up, surprising the Italian as she threw on her clothes quickly, before snatching up some parchment and a muggle pen, writing a letter to the girl herself.

A small smile played on his lips. She wanted to change, to help, and that's all that mattered.

* * *

><p>Saturday passed by quickly, with Pansy coming to the apartment to try and relax Hermione, and the brunette replying to Ginny about seeing her after work on Wednesday. Draco had even agreed to go see Blaise at that time, so he didn't sit at home alone in the apartment, losing his mind.<p>

Sunday found Hermione looking at the list, now only three items left to figure out.

_2. Go back to the Manor._

_4. Dig up the ring. _

_6. Charm Hermione._

She tapped her chin thoughtfully with the pen, seated at the bar in their kitchen. It seemed she ended every week by looking at the list, trying to figure out what everything meant. At least two more things were gone, revealing more secrets about Draco. She was thankful to finally be learning about the deeper sides of her boyfriend.

Still, what did the last three mean? She had absolutely no idea, and that severely bugged her.

Ironically, in the bedroom, Draco was doing the exact same thing, but looking at a list with only two items. He still had no idea Hermione even knew he had this list of items.

_2. Go back to the Manor._

_6. Charm Hermione._

After some hesitation, he reached out and crossed off number six. There had never been a set amount of charming he had to do, or any idea what he was charming her into. Sex? They had that regularly. Marriage? She had admitted that was a possibility in the distant future. Children? He hadn't even thought that far ahead yet.

It was apparent to everyone that the couple loved each other, so charming her was no longer a worry; it came naturally. He smirked, surprised at how much could be accomplished in a week.

_But when to return to the Manor?_


	11. Week 19

**a/n: **Sadly, this story is coming to an end. I only plan to have one, two weeks at the most still to write, which could be anywhere from 1 to four chapters depending on how long each week is. Plus, there is going to be an epilogue, which can possibly be two parts long, but probably not. Overall, there are only about six chapters left, but probably more like four. Thanks for sticking with me! And I hope you enjoy this chapter :) As always, thanks to my beta **viralanomaly!**

**Jelisha Baby 22**: Maybe they will...we'll have to wait and see!

**Hooker: **We reflect on that here...

**I vIsItEd DrAcO lAsT nIgHt: **Horror stories? Well, I do enjoy horror :)

**lulu: **Thanks! And I think this chapter is just as dramatic...but in very different ways!

**Bambi: **Lol yes, yes it does!

**mysexylover: **Soon enough?

**The Butterfly Effect: **Webs of reality? Hmm, I try anyways :D

**They Call Me Ginger: **Glad to hear it!

**Eric**: If Astoria knew what to do with herself, this story wouldn't exist XD And yes, Hermione's list is longer, because she doesn't know yet about how the other two things were solved. Don't worry, that will come eventually...

**Readingismypassion: **Quick enough?

**anon: **No worries! I appreciate the review whenever it is sent :) You'll have to wait and see what happens...but I think this is quite the fast update :D

* * *

><p><strong>Week 19: February 28-March 6<strong>

* * *

><p>Ginny Weasley woke up bright and early that Monday morning, pulling her hair into a tight ponytail. Blaise had invited her over the previous night, and she couldn't be more ecstatic. He rarely tried to contact her unless he wanted a shag, and she was happy to know he might be willing to branch out into an actual relationship.<p>

She pulled on her jacket a little too roughly. Of course, he wouldn't be half as hesitant to engage in a relationship with her if she hadn't been so shady in her last one. A lot of people now knew about that, and it made life a bit difficult at times. She was willing to put forth an effort to make a better name for herself again, but she didn't have a way yet to really prove it. Nothing had come up about finding Astoria from what she knew, and that left her few options until then.

She grabbed her bag and took the Floo network to Blaise's, stepping into an atmosphere she wasn't familiar with. He had a...warm look to his eyes. It threw her off. "Hi," she said, sitting herself down on his couch. The Italian remained stock still where he was, watching her with narrowed eyes. It was surprising that the windows to his soul held such warmth while his body language screamed cold.

It was then that she noticed Harry Potter and _Pansy Parkinson _sitting in the room as well, Harry holding a letter between his fingers, eyes bright with anger. The girl at his side looked neither triumphant or sad, just sat beside him with no emotion on her face.

She couldn't look at Harry, couldn't stand to see the anger burning in his eyes. The green irises were dark, burning, and they reminded her an awful lot of the look he had worn last time the spoke, right before the nasty break-up. It had been their last real conversation, and it burned its place into her memory.

The black-haired boy cleared his throat. "I have some questions for you Ginny," he spoke at last. "The Ministry has been asking about you."

She frowned, looking at the wall opposite them. "Me? Why? We have already established I am little to no help. I told Hermione everything I already know! I can't help you."

She heard her long time-boyfriend sigh. "Yes, but now we need to know any and every place you ever met up with Marcus Flint."

"Why?," she asked, still looking away. She vaguely wondered what Zabini was doing.

"Because," he said, voice sounding strained, "Astoria Greengrass sent you some kind of coded message."

* * *

><p>Draco sat on the couch in the living room, reclined back, his girlfriend's cat sitting at his side. He was trying to distract his mind. They hadn't found Astoria yet, and he was becoming anxious. It didn't matter to him, really, if the girl never showed her face again, but he didn't want her appearing from nowhere to cause problems again. The faster the Ministry located the girl, the better.<p>

He rubbed the pale skin of his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. It had been around since Friday when he told Hermione about getting his magic suspended for almost killing his _father_.

Lucius Malfoy had been an elusive creature. He had been arrested twice, and escaped both times before finding himself in Azkaban Prison. Finding the man that shared his flesh and blood that cool night had been a nightmare come true.

Every word the man had spit in his direction still cut deep into Draco's mind. How could anyone's _father, _of all people, speak so cruelly of his deceased wife, and their offspring? The blond may as well have been a Mudblood that day, with the way his father shot violent words his way. It cut through one's heart a bit, to be cut down like that. Every image from that night was etched into his brain, right up to the moment Potter stopped him from ruining his life.

Sometimes he wished the Wonder Boy hadn't. If he had killed his father, maybe some of the gut-wrenching hatred would've died with him. It was a fool's belief, but after all that time Malfoy couldn't believe that it still bothered him so much. Lucius had never been very kind to his only son, and his time spent by Voldemort's side during the second war only made him intolerable. He was cruel, and blinded by the obsessive need to please his Lord that Bellatrix Lestrange had also possessed.

_The only difference is no one killed my father during the war, unlike my aunt. _He was almost grateful to Molly Weasley for taking his deranged aunt from the world, but couldn't quite agree with the thought. Bellatrix was a force to be reckoned with, mad even if you really put some thought into it, but when she was focused on family, without a crowd, the woman could be quite considerate. It had almost been her Draco had turned to for advice in his sixth year when he was told to kill Dumbledore, but he didn't.

_If I had told her I didn't want to do it, she would've had me marked off and taken up the challenge herself. No matter how nice she could be towards her family in the shadows, Aunt Bella was obsessed with power to the very end. _

He groaned. Lucius had been intolerable yes, but he didn't care much for his family in the end. He was blindsided by desire and dark power, and that consumed him. The man Draco had been faced with while he was still an Auror was only a shadow of the father he had as a young child. It was truly sad how much his father had let the war consume him.

_Nothing's going to change that now. _He sat up, walking to the kitchen to find himself a drink. It would do him no good to dwell on the person his father had become, and the overwhelming sadness that had gripped his chest the night they met up again. Those things were in the past, and nothing would change that.

* * *

><p>Harry and his stupid girlfriend had left Blaise's apartment over an hour ago. The encrypted letter had turned Ginny's face white with shock, and she wasn't even sure she was completely helping. Potter and Pansy had left quickly after she told them every single place she had ever met Marcus, searching for Astoria's hiding place.<p>

Blaise had sat down beside her soon after. She was surprised when he reached out and lovingly took her hand.

"You don't look good."

She smiled lightly. "I'm not feeling good. Everyone still thinks I've something to hide."

He shrugged. "They know every place to try searching for her now. Wednesday, I'm sure someone from the Ministry will be Flooing over to tell Hermione and Draco all about this-if they don't make us do it instead. Eventually, people may learn to trust you again."

The ginger took a shuddering breath, glancing at him through the corners of her eyes. "And that you might be able to trust me?"

He nodded. "Someday, love."

* * *

><p>The rest of Monday passed easily for Hermione and Draco, who were not yet alerted to the Ministry's newest investigation with Ginny Weasley. The brunette had finally received a response from Ginny, and it sat in a basket on the bar in their kitchen, reminding her that they were still on for Wednesday.<p>

While his girlfriend was at work the following day, Draco pulled out the letters that had been passed between Astoria and Derek, curiosity killing him. It was both a distraction from his own thoughts and something that needed to be looked at. Besides, he didn't much care for the idea of Hermione looking through letters that had been between about her. Astoria seemed possessed, and probably said some rather awful things.

For a while, all Draco read was a lot of pointless shit. The notes proved that although Derek seemed to supply the girl with efficient information in the beginning, their thoughts had been wrong. In actuality, he didn't seem to ever tell her very much. He told her vague things, but the details her own messages kept demanding never came. In actuality, the stupid prick hadn't given up as much as the blond had first assumed.

Of course, all things can be proven wrong. He flipped open the next note from Astoria and narrowed his eyes.

_Stop wasting my time! I need to know about Granger, not have you complaining about your grades! I hear them every night, so you better start telling me details about their plans! I can't stop it until I know what they plan next, and you are proving to be very unhelpful._

He was suddenly baffled. This note in no way connected to the previous one, and there wasn't even a response from Derek. It appeared to be one of the most recent notes, and Draco quickly flipped through the stack, realizing that all the remaining letters were from Astoria herself, with no responses.

The kid had apparently abandoned her long before contacting anyone.

He refocused his attention on the letter in his hand. _I hear them every night...I can't stop it until I know what they plan next... _What the hell had she been going on about.

What really concerned him though was that first statement; _I hear them every night._

_How?_

* * *

><p>Hermione lay in bed that night beside her boyfriend, staring at the ceiling, her thoughts swimming just like they had been the past two days, ever since Draco started revealing so much, so fast.<p>

The necklace, she had decided, was a bit strange, but she could wrap her mind around that. She had finally located the book he had been using to do the spell, just beside the one that opened his secret room.

After reading it for some time, she had discovered, and finally remembered, the simple ring he had worn on his finger that connected to the necklace. Instead of asking him about it yesterday when she found the page, Hermione got a bit snoopy and searched through a few drawers as he attempted to cook again.

From what she could tell, the ring had done just what the book said; vanished when the necklace became mute. She no longer agreed to wear it, and he had not redone the spell, so the piece of jewelry would remain out of existence until someone else found the same spell and necklace and used it again.

She didn't completely understand it, and didn't want to. This was a darker type of magic, and it's purpose was finished. She would at least be grateful for his uncharacteristic concern at the time, and his quick actions to ensure her safety and help her, but she had no desire to look further into it. Although the scholar side of her argued with this, she didn't think finding anymore out about the spell, besides what Draco and the few pages in the book had told her, was a good idea. Time to drop the idea entirely.

And that was that. It was a bit unsettling to know she had been carrying around a small amount of his blood on her neck, but she kept pushing that thought away. It was over.

Now, she was really focused on her startling discovery. He had tried to _kill _his father.

The thought alone was surreal. This was the boy she had been told in sixth year couldn't kill Dumbledore, when he didn't even have any real emotional ties to that man. Yet, he had been ready to aim the killing curse at his own flesh and blood. It contradicted what people would normally do, but then again, Draco was an exception to normal in multiple ways.

But Hermione really wanted to know what his own father had said about his _mother_, to set the blond's temper off. He had obviously been closer to the person who had given birth to him than the one responsible, and that left a lot of questions in her mind. Never in school had she heard Draco gloat about his mother; it was always the Death Eater father that he bragged about. _Such contradictions. _

She sighed and rolled over, finding comfort in Draco's warm body. She doubted she would ever get _that _explanation from him, but this was a start. The blond had too many secrets, and she knew he wasn't ready to explain all of them. She had the big picture, but the details would have to wait until he wanted to talk again.

And knowing the Draco that she had come to live with, there was no way of predicting when that would be.

* * *

><p>That night, Astoria watched them sleep, but form an entirely different position this time. How <em>stupid<em> were they, to not lock that door? Did they really believe that it was sealed off, just because poor sweet Ginny Weasley had been put on probation for a few months? Hardly! They had missed the main part, the idiots.

Her hand itched as she finally watched the awake Granger roll over to snuggle into Draco, the intruder's breathing matching that of the blonds. It was funny in a way, how the girl's eyes completely ran over Astoria's form, and couldn't see her. The object of all their searching stood less then seven feet away, and neither of the people on the bed knew it.

The girl's hand itched several times for the wand in her pocket, and she had to clench her fist to keep from murdering Draco's Gryffindor _lover _while she slept. There would be time yet for that, but now was not it.

She was just monitoring, that was all.

Once she was certain both people were asleep, she turned on her heel and left the way she had come.

* * *

><p>Wednesday morning Pansy Parkinson rolled over to snuggle into her new boyfriend's arms, the man already awake. He gripped her tightly and kissed the top of her dark-haired head. "Good morning."<p>

"Morning yourself," she replied sleepily, sitting up to look at him. Harry's green eyes still had hints of sleep in them, and she smiled as he yawned, dragging her back down. "I like waking up with you."

"As do I," he replied, dragging her closer now. It was comfortable having her there at his side, even if it was a bit odd to remember that not so long ago he and Ginny had slept here too. Immediately, he pushed the thoughts into the back of his mind. This was definitely not the time to be thinking about that! "How did you sleep?"

"Well," she said, leaning up on her arm. "Once we were finally done." She traced random shapes on his shoulder, enjoying touching his naked skin.

He grinned and began to talk, but the moment was ruined as that damn mobile muggle phone began to buzz. He rolled his eyes and extended an arm, intent on telling whoever it was that he was not yet to work and to stop bothering him. "Yes, what is it?"

"Mr. Potter, you better come down here. We were able to pick up Miss Greengrass' location last night, but she moved again."

Harry sat up, a surprised Pansy blinking at him as he began to hastily pick up the discarded clothes from last night. "Where was she last seen then? I'll head off immediately."

"You're not going to like it."

"Just spit it out Cunningham, I really should be there already if this is the case."

There was a short pause in which Harry began to pull up his pants before the Auror spoke again. "She was in Malfoy's flat."

* * *

><p>By the time Harry Potter got to the apartment, a ruffled Pansy in tow, Draco was lounging on the couch, and Hermione appeared to have left for work. The blond looked rather surprised at the sudden appearance, and stood as the Wonder Boy stalked over and grabbed his shirt.<p>

"Are you barking mad," Potter shouted, startling his girlfriend. "What were you thinking!"

Two blond eyebrows shot up. "Get your hands off me Potter! And as for whatever you are going on about, I think I at least deserve an explanation before I try to explain...whatever it is I have done."

Harry released the other boy, taking several steps away from him so he wouldn't try to kill him again. "You actually have the audacity to lie like this, Malfoy? How can you, when you claim to be helping Hermione!"

Draco's eyes immediately hardened, glaring at Potter. "What are you going on about? I don't know what you are implying, but you sound crazy."

Green eyes flashed. "You let her in last night," he seethed, teeth clenched.

He looked rather confused. "Now what are you going on about? Really, if you plan to accuse me at least tell me-"

"You let Astoria in here," he snapped, wand out. "We picked up her magical trace here last night. You had to have let her in!"

"What," the blond snarled, suddenly quite insulted. "Why the fuck would I let that girl in exactly? If you haven't already fucking noticed, I'm not her biggest fan! Besides that, no one was even in here last night. Trust me, Potter, I would have noticed if Daphne's bloody sister strolled in."

Harry hesitated, and it gave Pansy the chance to accio both his and Draco's wands into her hand, before they injured each other. Two angry sets of male eyes snapped over to her, and the girl placed her hands on her hips, frowning.

"Will you two calm down? Screaming at each other is doing very little good. In fact, I don't think either of you really know what happened, so will you calm the hell down and talk? You're worse then I am!" She huffed, and fell onto the couch Draco had abandoned, glaring up at the pair.

It was quiet in the small space for a moment, both men looking at each other with guarded expressions. Whatever was going on wasn't making any sense at all.

Harry was the first to speak. "Why don't you tell me what happened last night then, since I'm apparently missing something."

Draco rolled his grey eyes, fighting down the growing agitation. "Like I have already told you, nothing. At least, nothing that has to do with this." A smirk crossed his face as the black-haired boy's expression turned sour, knowing exactly what he meant. "We slept last night-mostly. But Greengrass sure as fuck didn't get in here. The wards wouldn't allow it."

His green eyes narrowed. "Flint got in through a picture despite your wards!"

"Yes," the blond retaliated, "but that room is barren now Potter. If you don't believe me, why don't you go look yourself?"

He huffed. "I will!"

The guest stormed from the room in the direction of Hermione's abandoned bedroom, Pansy giving Draco a strange look as the two followed close behind. Harry Potter was either severely miffed or losing his mind with this Astoria business. Draco hoped it wasn't the latter.

The door opened easily; the bedroom no longer needing to be locked. The three stepped in, looking around. Everything had indeed been removed, her furniture shrunken and put into Draco's room on a shelf where Hermione could easily dust them while she awaited another chance to use them.

Harry looked around, having already expected this to do them little good. The only peculiarity in the room was the discolored carpet in one corner, practically black while the rest was a strange, soft blue. Malfoy had definitely never redecorated this.

"See? Now will you stop accusing me of shit I didn't do? I'm trying to protect Hermione, not ship her off with some mental patient." Pansy glanced at Draco as he spoke, knowing very well that if Daphne ever heard him talk like that it would hurt her heart.

The Gryffindor boy frowned. "Fine, then, Malfoy, I have no bloody idea what's going. Cunningham said that the sensors apparently jumped off the walls last night for about an hour, right here, signaling that Astoria was _inside _this flat for a short amount of time."

"And again, that makes no sense. I didn't let her in and I'll be damned if Hermione actually did. She is _smart_, after all."

Harry nodded, brow furrowing. Of course Draco was a far fetch, but Blaise and Ginny had both been reported to be out last night at some club for the majority of the night, which ruled them out. Daphne and Theo had airtight alibis as well; Cunningham had checked all of them twice. With Draco and Hermione being the targets, it was very unlikely that they let her in, but hey, he had to take a gamble someplace and try.

Well, now he was just out of people who _let _her in. Unless the girl forced entrance, which would've awoken the dreaming couple, then how the hell did she get in? He groaned, his head throbbing. _Why are there never any answers with this case? _

He glanced at Pansy, who was leaning against the wall, looking annoyed at the whole situation. They had left Harry's home quickly after the whereabouts of everyone who could enter the home were verified. It was early in the morning and too much drama was already occurring again.

He would probably owe her later.

"Fine," Potter finally snapped. "I'll head to the Ministry and start searching again. Hell, maybe they have almost found her because of that." He walked over and grasped Pansy's hand. "You see Blaise and Ginny tonight, right?" Everyone noticed the way he said her name, with just a touch of resentment.

He nodded.

"Check again about where they were, and if Ginny has thought of anymore places."

The blond scowled. "What do you mean, places?"

The Wonder Boy waved him off. "She'll explain tonight; might as well wait until the both of you are there." He nodded curtly, obviously not pleased with having to wait. "We'll be off then."

Once the intruding couple left, Draco again bound and locked the door, deciding not to take chances. Knowing that she had been _inside _his apartment was unsettling. _How are all these people continuously getting through my wards?_

Sitting on his bed, the pale man ran his hands over his face, long fingers trailing over the skin. This was stressful. If she could get inside, that made the flat very unsafe, and that was a problem. The only other place to go was the Manor, and he was not ready to return. Fuck, the Manor wasn't even prepared.

He found himself very grateful that they would be spending a lot of their night over at Zabini's. If she got in while they were gone, and wasted enough damn time, they could possibly catch her upon their return.

He laughed at his own stupidity. _She's avoiding top people in the Ministry, she won't be stupid enough to hang around here waiting for us to return._

* * *

><p>Theo was there by the time Hermione and Draco arrived in the pleasant apartment. He sat beside Ginny, who sat beside Blaise in the chair. All of them took notice of Draco's dark eyes and tight hold on the brunette beside him.<p>

He seemed agitated.

Conversation was minimal as they ate; often the only talk being between Ginny, Theo and Hermione. Blaise was busy studying the blond's guarded expression and his continuous, worried looks at the girl he had brought with. Malfoy was acting extremely paranoid.

Hermione and Ginny made polite, simple talk as they wandered towards Blaise's bedroom, shutting the door behind them once dinner was finished. Both Theo and Blaise noted that their wands had gone with them.

Once the girls were gone, Blaise leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees to look directly at Draco from around Nott. "So what's your problem now?"

"You ask me that question a lot," Draco noted, not answering him.

The Italian's relaxed features tightened slightly at that. "Come off it, Malfoy, what is it?"

He sighed, running a hand through his light blond hair. "Apparently, Astoria was in my fucking apartment last night."

Nott's eyebrows shot up. "Is that why some angry Auror Flooed me and demanded to know where I was last night? Annoying prick he was. I swear, if he had started accusing me of things this morning at seven I was going to lose my mind."

Blaise nodded his agreement as Draco continued speaking. "Yes, they tracked some of her magic there last night. Why no one took care of the problem while they could find her is beyond me. Fucking idiots. All I know is that Potter came storming into my apartment this morning blaming her entrance on be, because no one has ever snuck into that place before." He huffed.

Theo nodded, leaning further into the couch. "So she's sneaking in? I wonder if she has done it before."

"Merlin I hope not," he snarled, only imagining the conditions she might have found them in at night-and the thoughts that must have rushed through her mind. _Probably twisted ways to kill Hermione. _His chest tightened at the thought. "I think they would've picked that up before though, since they could do it this time."

"True, but the sudden appearance is strange. She must be planning something." Blaise thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "I wonder though what she is creating."

"Probably to get Hermione out of the picture," Draco snarled, his temper flaring. Fuck! There was just no ending these stresses was there?

Theo nodded at this. "Yes, but I think she realizes that you would notice someone trying to remove Granger from your bed. She was probably there trying to plan how to grab her. Honestly though, it sounds like a lot of work. I think it would be easier to simply wait for you to go out."

Malfoy jumped up, glaring at the other boy as he grabbed his shirt, much in the same manner Potter had done to him only hours earlier. "Nott!"

He held up his hands. "I'm only pointing it out. If Astoria can get into your house, then maybe you should make sure she's never there alone. Have Daphne or someone keep her company if you have to go out."

He flopped back into the chair Blaise had abandoned a few minutes ago. "Yes, because she just adores being taken care of like some incapable house wife. Hermione would probably kill me if I started doing that again."

Blaise chuckled, remembering months before when he had spent a lot of time watching Granger for his friend. "Probably."

Draco was rubbing his temples. Again, the stress was bubbling as he talked. First, it was Marcus removing her because he wanted _her_, now it was Astoria removing her as well, but because Astoria wanted _him_.

_Why do they always go after her? It's not like she's weak, by any means. She's just...female. That doesn't make her weaker though. Maybe it just makes her an ideal target..._

He removed his hands, looking for at Blaise. "I need a fucking drink."

* * *

><p>Hermione was staring at the redhead, not sure what to make of everything.<p>

"Are you sure?"

Ginny nodded, looking away. "I'm positive. Marcus let it slip once, but I never thought of it. I've told Harry some of the locations I thought of, but after this, I think that has to be the place."

"It's in muggle London," she cautioned, not sure if the girl knew that. "If she is there, she probably picked it because so few Purebloods go there, she doubts they will search it."

"If she's there."

The brunette pursed her lips. "She has to be. Do you have something more specific besides a street?"

She shook her head. "I heard it mentioned lots of times, but there could be muggle buildings with magical hidden rooms. The possibilities are endless, and now that my connections to Astoria are frayed, I doubt I'd be able to find anything else."

"Try. We want this over with already."

The redhead shook her head quickly, inwardly scowling at her eagerness to please Hermione. But, if she pleased Hermione, Blaise might actually be willing to go farther with her than sex and holding hands.

"Thanks. I think I better go though, Draco seemed aggravated today. He's probably ready to go home."

Ginny didn't respond, just walked out of the room, Hermione trailing behind. They found the boys sitting together in the living room, an open bottle of something sitting on the table, their glasses at least half gone. The redhead sat herself beside Blaise, but didn't touch him. Draco, quite the opposite, took his girlfriends hand and stood, his irritated, stressed mood having yet to diminish.

"I guess we'll be leaving then," he said, eyeing the other two males. "I need some rest and I'm sure Hermione does too."

_No, I think you're the one in need of rest. You look stressed. _"Yes," Hermione said instead, ignoring her thoughts and giving a slight wave back to the three occupants. "It's early but I would really just like to turn in."

Blaise nodded. "Go then. You two probably have a few things to discuss."

She didn't quite know what he meant by that, but ignored the strange feeling in her stomach at his double sided reply. "Possibly. Goodnight," she finished, walking with Draco to the floor. She went through first, and Draco finished his drink before following.

At home, Draco's eyes skittered around the place wildly, like he was trying to find some hidden person. Hermione noticed quickly, and frowned at him. "What's wrong with you then?"

He didn't answer, just began to search through the apartment, as though he had some sort of target in mind. She followed closely behind as he entered her old room, glaring at the empty space.

His vision was sliced in half by Hermione's face, coming into the lower half of his eyesight and drawing his attention. Despite his agitation he couldn't help and give her a slight smile. The girl was so good to him, and he refused to allow something else to happen to her. He couldn't survive if it did.

She leaned up on her toes and kissed him, parting after a few brief seconds to lean her forehead against his. "What's wrong?"

He realized the Weaselette had probably never gotten around to telling Hermione about this so called issue with Astoria being there. The beginning of a sentence explaining that issue rested on the tip of his tongue, but he refrained from saying anything. Better not to really worry her. He was bad enough.

"I'm just stressed about everyone not yet finding Greengrass," he said, partially telling the truth.

She nodded. "Let's take your mind off of it then?"

He raised an eyebrow. He knew exactly what she was implying, but he didn't feel up to the adventure. The thought of Astoria sneaking in and finding them naked...or worse, in the act, made his stomach churn. She would be fully prepared to hex them if she found them in that state, and he couldn't allow that.

"Let's just go to bed," he tried, deciding that he could wait until a better, safe opportunity arose.

His girlfriend looked thoroughly confused. "Okay, if you're sure?" She was puzzled, since Draco had never really said no to sex.

"I'm sure," he rushed out, grabbing her shoulders gently and walking out. He silently replaced the charms as they walked back to the bedroom, thankful he knew wandless magic, even if it were only a few simple spells. Later when Hermione fell asleep, he would need to go and put up the original spells.

They walked into the bedroom, and she immediately fell onto his mattress, staring up at him with a lazy smile. Merlin, she was tempting, but not tonight.

He sat stiffly beside her and heard the girl sigh, apparently upset that she couldn't help ease his mind. They prepared for bed in silence, the brunette still giving him odd looks.

By the time they settled into bed, Draco's nerves were frayed. He excused himself for a drink of water just so he had an excuse to go and fix the door. Even with that done, he knew it would be a sleepless night.

* * *

><p>Thursday, March 3 was a bleak day. Draco was irritable and tired, hardly agreeing to anything. The only two slightly eventful things came later in the day.<p>

Around five-thirty, Jean Granger called. "Hello Draco."

"Mrs. Granger."

"How are you doing?"

"I've been better," the blond said, sitting down on the couch.

"Is something the matter," she asked, and Draco could hear the hint of concern in her voice that was probably for her daughter's sake.

"Just stress at work," he lied. "Hermione is still out working actually, if you were looking for her."

"Oh it's doesn't matter to me which of you I talk to," she said kindly. "I was hoping you would both join us Tuesday night for dinner."

_Oh great, more invites. _"I think so," he said, ever the gracious gentleman when it came to a woman he was trying to keep happy. "I can check with her when she gets home."

"Yes, do please. We would love to see you two again."

"And Hermione has been missing you," he replied, trying to make the girl sound more connected to her family then she was. In fact, she hadn't spoken about her family in quite some time, now that he thought about it. It was only when they were planning to go see her parents actually that the girl even brought them up lately. Obviously, their minds were far too stretched. "I'll make sure to have her call you when she gets home."

"Alright, thank you Draco."

"Anytime."

* * *

><p>After relaying the message to Hermione, she called her parents and confirmed the date. The couple ate together in the living room afterward, Draco's obvious sleep deprivation apparent to the brunette as he continued to nod off during their show. At some point, he fell asleep and she removed their dishes, letting him rest on the couch.<p>

When Draco woke up again, he raised an eyebrow at her, followed by a yawn. "What are you doing?"

She didn't look up as she spoke. "My class plans for next year. I haven't looked at them in weeks. I thought it was about time I check them again."

And at those words, Draco beamed. That was Hermione Granger right there, the brilliant bookworm who was always ahead, not the stressed out woman he had been living with recently. This was the girl he remembered from Hogwarts, who would be returning in a few months, hopefully in much the same way she had left; top of her league.

He walked over and removed the numerous papers from her lap, much to the girl's horror, before he swept her into a tight hug. This was nothing extraordinary, just some simple little act of hers, but it felt so real, so _natural_, that he couldn't help the joy that was slowly spreading through her body.

She was herself, and he needed that reality check to refocus his attention to _her, _as a person, and less to every little thing he could do to keep her safe.

When he finally sat her back down her hair was falling out of the ponytail she had it in, and her eyebrows were furrowed together in annoyance. Placing her hands on her hips, a very Granger-like statement shined through, "What are you doing? My papers are completely out of order now!"

He chuckled, kissing her temple and earning himself a glare. "I'm taking a reality check," he replied, ignoring the confused look that crossed her features as he handed the papers back.

* * *

><p>Blaise Zabini thought that Friday passed slowly.<p>

His red-haired minx stayed in his bed, saying something felt terribly wrong, and that she knew Harry Potter would be owling her sometime today about whether or not her additional information was any help. Since telling him this, she had sat alone in his bedroom.

Zabini wanted time to consider the problem at hand. Nothing more had been figured out about the Marcus/Astoria/Ginny situation, but he had his own suspicions.

First of all, Marcus Flint may have played Ginny Weasley out of her part of the deal, but Greengrass seemed to be winning everything. Flint was dead, and _her wand _had been discovered at the scene of the crime. That witch had left Azkaban prison alive while wandless! He couldn't begin to fathom how she managed it, but somehow she had done it and now ran rampant across Britain.

Ginny Weasley had also been used more then she wanted to realize. Not only had she been used that first day to help Marcus get into Draco's apartment, but she had also taken the blame for multiple problems _Astoria _had inflicted on everyone. She let herself get drug through the dirt for those two, and for what? The loss of her school crush and magic for several months? It didn't make a lot of sense though.

Greengrass was the problem here. Despite the deals she made, in the end it all came down to getting what she wanted, and that was Draco Malfoy. So far she had gone as far as to murder someone who _wasn't even involved _to get to him, and Flint was so removed from the equation by the time she killed him that it didn't make sense that she put forth the effort.

He was certain she was mental. She was splitting her magic willingly, actually weakening herself. And she had gone into Malfoy's flat while they were sleeping to...what? Stare? Consider ways of getting in? He had no idea at all!

She was the question, the missing piece of the puzzle (probably missing a few pieces herself). She had journeyed way too far, and it was possible someone else would die before she was arrested.

Someone unfortunate like Granger. That's who she wanted out of the picture, so she would be more then willing to end Hermione's life given the chance. That put the girl in grave danger, and Malfoy in the very stressful situation of realizing this. It was his girlfriend in harm's way _again_, and that would put any bloke on edge. He felt for his friend, wondering how long it would take for him to snap.

His thoughts were interrupted by soft footsteps, and a few seconds laterm Ginny sat down on the couch opposite him, letter in hand. She was meeting his eyes dead on, a first. She typically waited until they started talking to meet his gaze.

"My information has helped," she said, pride in her voice. "Harry says they found traces of magic split with Astoria's in a few places I mentioned, including muggle London."

He nodded, giving her the smallest of smiles, and extended his hand. "It's nice to see that you really are changing."

She smiled widely, her heart rising now that he was truly believing her, "I wish I knew something more, but I can't think of anything. I hope it's enough to help them locate her." She took his hand, his grip tight on hers as they stood.

His hand found her face and brushed away the red locks stuck there. Her eyes came up to meet his again and she knew this was not the kiss-not yet. This was not a kiss that would signify their relationship moving forwards, past lust and guarded glances, but it still had unusual passion.

His lips were rough, demanding, and she sank against his body, reveling in the feeling again of him wanting her in some way.

_I'm so desperate, but I know he wants it too. It's just a matter of time. Once everything is sorted out, he won't have to be so guarded towards me...I hope._

His arms swept around her and picked her up bridal style, walking towards his bedroom. It would've been romantic, had either of them been there fully, totally ready to commit to something. But for now, the lust would do, because the trust was forming between two former enemies, and for now that was enough to satisfy them at least.

* * *

><p>Friday and Saturday passed by without event from Malfoy's flat. He continued to stay awake for long hours at night, and rested for short spurts of time during the day. Needless to say, Hermione felt she should give him some time to relax, since she was certain the stress was somehow related to her.<p>

That's how she ended up walking through one of the busiest streets in muggle London with Daphne Greengrass of all people. They had done some shopping, mostly for clothes, and she found herself strangely comfortable around Astoria's older, kinder sister. It was a shame they saw so little of each other; they had lots in common.

Daphne had actually read Hogwarts: A History. Of course, it was for detention one year with the librarian, but she had enjoyed the book near the end. Hermione was ecstatic, even if the reader hadn't originally been willing, that she now had someone to talk to about the book with. And she actually knew how to reply back!

Towards the end of their outing Daphne started mentioning something about the mansion, beginning of the conversation something Hermione had chosen to zone out on. "-passages, I can't imagine which one she decided to take. Any of them really would have gotten her out, and there were too many focus to check then."

She swallowed the sip of lemonade she had, the day surprisingly warm. "I'm sorry, what?"

The other girl chuckled, realizing her companion had not been listening at all. "I was just babbling on about Astoria getting away. I know all the passages in my home, but there are too many for the few of us who were there to check. She could've taken any of them out that night."

The brunette nodded, thoughtful. "Yes, that was truly irritating. I hope the Ministry finds her soon."

"Me too," the blond replied quietly, with far less enthusiasm.

She noticed the other girl's attitude change. "At least no one can get in there while you're away; it would be terrible if someone broke in."

Daphne waved her hand, grateful for the change of subject even if the topic was impossible. "Nonsense. Greengrass Mansion is heavily warded; no one can get in there. Only a few Auror's even have access. In fact, I'm sure that the only people who can enter right now are the three Auror's I approved, myself, Astoria, and the group of you I let through that one day."

Hermione processed that information, a foolish thought from last week tumbling back into her mind. "Why do you still allow us all in," she asked, highly interested. "We don't have any reason to go."

She shrugged, flipping her blond hair over her shoulder. "If I need to go back for something, I'm supposed to take someone along, and besides, someday I'll live there and there's no reason to block out my friends if I'm going to readmit them again soon."

She blinked. "You consider me a friend?"

The blond gave her a strange look as they reached the apparation point. "Of course, why else would I have spent the afternoon shopping with you?" Her nimble fingers adjusted the strap of her bag. "I do have an appointment, however. I promised Nott I would go visit his shop-it's on this street you know."

Hermione nodded. "Then why did you walk me up here?"

She shrugged. "We were still talking. Now go on home, you look tired. I'll see you soon."

"Bye Daphne."

"Hermione." She turned, waving goodbye as she did so, and began walking back down the crowded street. The brunette hurried to walk the last little bit into the apparation point, out of any muggle eyesight.

But she wasn't going home, no. She had something to check first. With a wave of her wand, she was gone.

* * *

><p>Greengrass Mansion was colder then she expected-but hell, they had no reason to currently heat the place. Stepping further into the living room she had arrived in, Hermione was thankful that the house-elves were elsewhere until Daphne's return and wouldn't bother her.<p>

She wanted to see something, just real quick. Draco and Harry would both be furious that she came alone, but she was just going to search the girl's abandoned room a moment and be on her way. Besides, she had been splitting her magic, so she would be weak if she did show. Granger was certain she could take her.

It took several minutes, but she eventually located Astoria's room and flung the door open, relieved to find it empty. She immediately set to work looking for anything useful. It's not like she could stay long.

There was a lot of useless junk lying around, and it took almost fifteen minutes to uncover a letter written to Marcus, hidden on the cluttered desk. She dusted off the parchment and scanned the letter quickly, eyes widening she as read.

The sudden sound of breathing made her whirl around, wand ready. She was met by nothing but empty space. No one was there, and now there was no breathing noise.

_Paranoia. _

She turned back around, setting her wand close by, continuing to read the letter. She had nearly finished when something hard slammed into the back of her head. Startled, she cried out and snatched her wand as she fell, crumpling into the carpet.

She hit the ground hard, feeling disoriented. Her hand instinctively swept to the throbbing spot on her head, pulling it back to revel the deep red color of blood littering her palm. She instantly had her wand at the ready, glancing around furtively.

No one was there. She felt her stomach drop.

_What the hell? _

She sprang to her feet, ready to get out. Whatever was going on, it creeped her out, and she wanted to get back to the flat and a comfortable pair of strong arms waiting for her. Something was wrong here, and she needed to get out.

She was about to apparate away, when for the second time something smashed into her head, dropping her to the floor again, and this time her wand skittered across the floor, far out of her reach.

_Fuck._

Now she knew there was a substantial amount of blood, leaking from maybe the middle of her back instead of her head. Maybe it just felt like something hit her head when it was really lower. She didn't know, she just knew that she could feel something warm dripping down her back, the immense pain that was sure to come not quite there yet.

She still couldn't see anyone, but then, she couldn't turn her head either. She doubted she had the energy for that.

Her eyes blinked, her consciousness slipping away, and as she passed out she barely caught the triumphant form of Astoria Greengrass popping into existence.

* * *

><p>Draco was worried. No, fuck that. He was scared shitless.<p>

Hermione was supposed to appear over an hour ago. He had gotten a hold of Daphne, only to find out that she had left the girl about an hour ago, who was supposedly coming right back there.

He didn't like it, not one bit.

Blaise was going to arrive any minute now, and Potter, Theo and Daphne should be following. The Aurors had yet to be called, and the blond hoped to keep it that way.

Not a moment too soon, Blaise appeared in the fireplace, brushing off his robes. He took one look at Draco's crestfallen face and knew the man was under more stress then before. Fuck, everyone was at the moment.

He took a seat next to his oldest friend. "We'll find her, Draco."

"It's not that," he snarled, his emotions locked between pain and anger, "it's the condition we will find her in that worries me."

Blaise didn't say anything to that, but patted his friend once on the back for support.

Not twenty minutes later the other three had arrived, looking rather worried and aggravated. Draco felt uncomfortable bringing Daphne along, since this was her sister, but she knew the mansion better then anyone, and since that was where the girl was certain Hermione had gone, that was where they were headed.

The only problem was, the mansion looked the exact same from last time, if that main room was any indication. Daphne glanced at the men around her, biting her lip, and took Theo's outstretched hand for support as she began to walk down the hallway. Blaise and Draco shared a glance, but no one spoke. They all had a destination in mind.

Hermione Granger had spoken to both Harry and Draco about returning here to look for clues. Ever the bookworm, she wanted answers and she was stubborn enough to look for them herself. Now that everyone knew about Daphne's slip of tongue earlier about the Floo here, they all had the sinking suspicion that she had come here to begin her search.

The one room she spoke of the most was Astoria's room, so they would start there.

With Daphne in the lead, Nott behind her, followed by Draco, Blaise and Harry, they made it to Astoria's room in record time. Daphne didn't pause at the door, just simply flung it open and snapped on the lights, screaming in the process.

A rush of bodies propelled into the room, and Theo pressed the terrified girl against his shoulder as everyone took in the room.

There wasn't a lot of blood, but there it was, fresh, ruining the fine carpet of Astoria's floor.

And a few feet away lay Hermione's wand.

Draco Malfoy didn't speak a single word about what he saw, just turned and hit the nearest wall in anguish, feeling one of his knuckles break on impact. No one spoke as he placed his forearms on the wall and rested his head there, slowly feeling the pain settle in.

**a/n: **Now please review guys! I only have a few chapters left, and I really wanna know what you think! Also, for anyone interested, check out my three new stories, **Imagine**, **Dead Reality**, and **Man in the Mirror. **Hope you enjoyed!


	12. Week 20 Part 1

**A/n: **Hey guys! So, this is almost the end. One, maybe two chapters at most left after we get through all of week 12! I'm so sad! I've loved this story forever. Anyways, this is almost a filler to prepare you for the events next chapter...the results of Astoria and how things unravel themselves!

Thanks to my beta **ViralAnomoly**! *Has not yet been edited.

* * *

><p><strong>Bambi: <strong>Ah yes, all the questions. Well, most of them are answered within week 20, so I'll let you get to your reading instead of responding here :)

**Jelisha Baby 22: **Kicks some ass? We'll see...but for now settle on the first few days of the week!

**I vIsItEd DrAcO lAsT nIgHt: **Maybe I will try my hand at a horror story sometime then :) As for the story, we'll have to see we'll have to see...he does seem pretty devastated. Saving her? Hmm...maybe...

**Readingismypassion: **Well...it is a drama story! Read on to find out :)

**lulu: **I'm sorry for being mean! Hopefully this will help make for it.

**mysexylover: **I love the scenes with Ginny and Blaise, because the couple is tense here. It's not easy sailing, so there are multiple things to play on with them. As for Hermione, we'll see fairly soon.

**The Butterfly Effect: **Here you are!

**Hooker**: Well, Hermione is "too brave for her own good". And yes, everything meets an end somehow.

**Eric: **I tried to! And yes, Ginny and Blaise seem to be on a roller coaster. Astoria? She does seem fairly perverted, demented, twisted, right? It's not super soon I know, but I hope soon enough.

**They call Me Ginger: **Carved to pieces? You sound like **I vIsItEd DrAcO lAsT nIgHt **up there, going on about the horror stories :D But, you'll have to read until the end to see whether or not that's the case.

* * *

><p><strong>Week 20 Part 1: March 7-March 10<strong>

* * *

><p>Pansy sat beside Harry in his office, who was frantically searching through papers, constantly telling people to bugger off who came to the door, unless they knew something about Hermione.<p>

Harry had been working through the night, and she really wished he would take a break. The boy was irritable and looking back at papers he already had once. At one point Pansy had tried to reason with him, and make him slow down, but he had gently slapped her arms away and said that he needed to focus.

She was sure if he focused much more, he was going to lose his mind. Both Harry and Draco were dealing with the new situation rather badly and neither seemed to be thinking with their head on straight. They desperately wanted Hermione to return safe and sound, and this desire blinded the boys to only see the end goal, not the countless angles to approach this from.

Harry had gone over things a hundred times; every document he could get his hands on was something he looked over, threw, and then discarded. The Slytherin girl could only recall one other time he seemed to be under so much stress, and that was when he had been preparing to confront Voldemort. Granted, she barely knew Potter back then, and had been campaigning for him to be turned into the Dark Lord, but now she could see the stress up close and personal. He was ripping his hair out, struggling to figure out where his best friend could be.

It made her heart hurt a bit. He was so sad, and she could only imagine how Draco must be feeling.

Around two, she finally pushed all his folders aside and sat on his lap, forcing him to pause. The girl rested her head against his, closing her eyes. "She'll be alright you know. We'll find her."

He didn't reply, but exhaled and squeezed her hand tightly.

* * *

><p>He wanted to rip his hair out.<p>

He absolutely refused to believe she was gone, that somewhere out there that deranged bitch was probably trying to torture her to death. It had barely been one day and he was already losing his mind.

Draco sat against the headboard of his bed, blond hair tumbling around his face, in need of a decent wash. The normally well-groomed Slytherin hadn't spent a moment of time the last day, almost two, worrying about what he wore and how he looked. The boy still wore the same pieces of clothing, crumpled from attempting to sleep last night.

He couldn't get her out of his head. There were snippets of happiness in her face in places, his mind trying to focus on those. But there were more images of her pain, of experiences like this. Of her face the day they went to court, her face the time he came home to Marcus's abuse on her body. Those were the pictures that plagued his mind, because he could see all those expressions crossing her face in the situation now, and he didn't like it.

He couldn't stand those thoughts. Now a bottle of whiskey sat at his side, halfway gone. He couldn't stop drinking; he needed something to lean against. But he also knew Granger would hate the constant alcohol consumption, and that made him slow down. _Merlin, she's affecting my life more then I like to admit._

The memory of her blood on the carpet of Greengrass Mansion and her discarded wand nearby was enough to set his nerves on edge. The girl had been in his flat for fucking sake! She obviously knew some interesting tricks, which could give her an advantage to kill Hermione in all sorts of creative ways.

_No, don't think that way. If you let your mind trail away like that you'll never focus._

Daphne Greengrass had stayed with him the entire day yesterday after Hermione's disappearance. He knew she felt rotten for letting something like this happen, all because of _her-_if you ever asked the girl how she felt-and she had led him all over the Mansion, sitting in the shadows as he searched for the answers that were not there.

In truth, he didn't blame the girl. No, Hermione Granger was stubborn, and would've probably done something like this sometime anyway, even without the knowledge that she could apparate straight into the place. Daphne just sped up the process, and no matter how angry he wanted to be about that, he couldn't be. It would happen no matter what, unless she had been caught, and he could just imagine the annoyed look on her pretty face if she ever found out what he blamed the blond for. No, he would not place blame on her.

It was Astoria's fault anyways, had been from the beginning. Things had gotten so far out of hand that he couldn't even imagine a way to dissolve all their issues. Not only was she missing, but he had a Manor to look at soon and decide whether or not he would sell it, some misplaced money by Marcus Flint to Astoria to handle and an awful lot of letters questioning him on why his fortune had been given to a Mudblood of all people. _Of course that would make the bloody papers._

He wanted to bang his head against the wall. It was all too much, and the dull ache in his chest was growing to a throb as every minute passed. The anguish he thought he had felt the moment he found out she was missing was nothing compared to the hours of uncertainty that he had faced. He wanted her back, safe and protected in his arms, no matter how much she may like to protest the idea. He knew very well, that she would only remain in the protection of his grip when it was absolutely necessary, and after that she would want to be defiant again.

Draco groaned. Being defiant was the entire reason they were now in this mess. _Well, more then before._

* * *

><p>Theo Nott sat in his small house, a pleasant place in a rural part of wizarding Britain, far away from his family's once glorious mansion, reading a book. Life had been a mess with all those Astoria nonsense, and getting away from all of it for a bit was just what he needed. The book was a charming escape from reality just then.<p>

Of course, he was really wishing Daphne would pull herself away from the problem as well. She had slept at his house Thursday, all because she passed out during one of those muggle movies and he hadn't wanted her to go away. He had slept beside her in the couch opposite, and despite lacking the human contact that would've been nice, he slept better then any other time he could recall. He sincerely wanted her to stay with him again, and get out of the empty home Pansy had vacated to spend time with Potter. It was either that or her Mansion, and there were too many people there constantly investigating to get any real sleep.

His fireplace roared to life and the startled boy looked up in time to catch Daphne's blond locks appearing as the flames disappeared, her face looking worn and her body tired. She walked to his side and collapsed onto the couch, throwing her head into her hands.

He set the book aside and rested a gentle hand on her back. "What's the problem?"

"Everything," she moaned drastically, not removing her hands. "I can't believe she took her!"

Theo rubbed her back soothingly. "Hey, it's not you-"

"Don't say it," she snapped, whipping her head away. She stood up and began to pace. With a sigh, Theo settled in, having dealt with this several times before.

"It's my fault," she whispered, wringing her hands. "I told her about the Floo, about the Apparation. If I hadn't said anything, maybe she would have waited until later, when it's safe. I can't believe that I let her do that!"

"You're beginning to sound like Draco," he commented, trying to ease her mind. Instead, she threw her hands up.

"It's because I spent too much time with him! I know he would never say it out loud, but he blames me. Of course he blames me! If I had been quiet she would never have gone-"

"Hey," he said simply, watching her walk. "We all know Granger was going to head there at some point, so stop beating yourself up over it. It's not going to make her appear any quicker. I'm sure someone will locate Astoria or Hermione soon enough and then everything will work out, alright?"

"I can't," she said, gripping her hair. "I can't stop thinking about them. You have no idea what she could do-what she might do if Hermione makes her mad! Draco will never let me live it down if my own sister kills her-"

"There's no reason to think she is going to die," he said sternly.

"But there is," she grumbled, finally sitting back down. "None of us know what will happen, so I'm assuming the worst."

"That's not a very positive way of looking at things," he said, leaning forwards to rest his elbows on his knees.

She shrugged. "Hope for the best but plan for the worst."

"You must have truly upsetting thoughts," Nott said, standing up as an owl flew to his window, followed by another. He opened the living room window, allowing the two animals to enter. One flew to Daphne and the other pecked lightly at his own hand. He pet the feathery animal, before untying the note from its leg and opening the parchment.

_Theo~_

_Since Hermione disappeared, the Ministry is gathering up all of her (and Malfoy's) friends to consider places. Why? I have no idea, because it won't do a lot of bloody good. We're all going to meet in my office, since Malfoy himself refuses to have anyone over there. Think he's upset just a bit?_

_We're going to all gather around four for some tea tomorrow. My boss seems to think this will help ease everyone's nerves, but I think he's barking mad._

_Owl me so I know if it works._

_~Harry_

He glanced up from the letter, noticing that Daphne had a bemused expression on her face. The dark aired boy raised an eyebrow as she spoke.

"I think he's barking mad too."

"Same message then," he asked, walking to sit beside her.

She nodded. "I had already assumed so, they did come in together."

He chuckled. "That's true." Leaning in a bit closer, he wiggled his eyebrows. "Think Potter is going to snap if something happens? His formal, professional touch is lacking here. Look, he even called me Theo!"

The blond rolled her eyes. "I believe he's called you Theo before."

"Yes, well," Theo said, smirking, "but never when his work is involved. It's always Mr. Nott this, Mr. Nott that. He ever used to do it back when Draco worked there, and I went in to be a bother."

She rolled her eyes and swatted his arm. "That sounds like the pair of you; going out of your way to bother Harry Potter. If only Blaise were with you two."

He shrugged. "Sometimes he came."

They talked for another few hours, about nothing important, but simply to keep the frantic girl's mind off the situation at hand. Theo knew he should be more concerned about Draco's girlfriend at the moment, but the pretty blond creature in front of him had all of his attention. He assumed it would be painfully hard to pull his mind away.

Eventually it grew late, and she drug her slim body up into a standing position, looking to be in no mood to return to Pansy's empty flat. "I best be going."

The tall boy shrugged, not moving from his seat on the sofa. "You can always stay here Daphne; no reason for you to keep sleeping alone in an empty house."

She looked horrified. "Nott! Is that your idea of how to pick a girl up?"

He held up his hands, getting off the piece of furniture as well. "Hey, I'm not going there. You are under enough stress as it is. I was only offering the guest bedroom," he continued, hating the words even as they slipped off his tongue. He would much rather she join him in his master bedroom, sleeping soundly against his silk sheets.

Draco had convinced him women simply adored silk sheets back in sixth year. And hey, he hadn't had any complaints about his choice of bedding.

Greengrass looked torn. "I should be getting back. Pansy will wonder-"

"How many times has Pansy even been in that flat since you moved in," he asked, stepping towards her. "Your sister is completely psychotic, and you have been sleeping alone in a poorly protected apartment? Not the best choice of living arrangements."

Her brow furrowed. "How do you know her apartment has poor protection?"

The boy chuckled. "I dared Zabini to sneak in one night when some of us went out drinking, you know, to be an arse. Parkinson had proclaimed that her apartment was difficult to get into a few days prior, and yet Blaise could walk in the front door."

She scoffed. "You have to be lying."

"Yes, because I would lie about this. Stay here Daphne, at least for a bit. No one knows what's going through that head of your sisters, but I'm willing to bet she isn't too happy with you either. After all, you have been on our side."

The girl cringed. "Fine," she snapped, eyeing him closely, "but just for tonight."

He didn't care what she had to say now. "Or however long is needed," he replied, smirking.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't push it Theo, this is strange as it is. It sounds particularly familiar actually. Oh, I know! Wasn't Granger hiding from someone in Malfoy's flat?" Now she was smirking.

Theo raised a dark eyebrow. "Yes?"

She took a step forwards, shaking her head. They were now a few steps apart. "They ended up sleeping together. Don't get any little ideas in that head of yours," she snapped, tapping his head with her wand. "The last thing I need is you coming onto me. Merlin, as if I don't have enough to worry about!"

He smiled and reached for a pen, ready to reply for the both of them. "Just go to sleep Greengrass. You're going to fall over."

She frowned. "Shut up Nott, you don't tell me what to do. I think I'd much rather take a hot bath." Without waiting for his reply, or considering that she did not have any pajamas here, she turned and walked towards the only bathroom she knew of.

He chuckled at her retreat, and grabbed a piece of parchment, to let Potter know they would both be there. A smile was forming on his face.

* * *

><p>Ginny awoke on March 8 in the bed of none other then Blaise Zabini. One of his arms was draped over her chest, a relaxed hand barely cupping her exposed breast. She had spent the night, and they had readily jumped into bed to relieve stress. Now, as she considered the soreness between her legs, she wished she had been a bit more careful.<p>

Blaise was not always fucking her. They did a lot but not enough to keep her sized to him. He was rather…large, and she often found herself a bit sore after a night with him.

She couldn't deny that she loved every minute of it.

Carefully lifting his arm, she slipped out of the bed and headed for the bathroom, ready for a nice shower. She didn't want to take one with Blaise, not just yet. He would turn her and fuck her senseless, which she might love, but she didn't particularly need at the moment. One she had turned on the shower and felt the water cascading down onto her skin, she felt relaxed.

And that's saying something, when you feel completely useless because you can't help locate one of the best friends you ever had.

A shadow cast over the shower door and she smiled, deciding to push away the needy feeling to be alone. "Blaise," she called seductively, sliding the door open a bit to peer out. "Did you-"

She never quite finished that sentence, and instead screamed, falling back in the shower and hitting her back rather hard on a faucet. She was certain her skin would be as white as Malfoy's.

The bathroom door burst open and she could hear Blaise's surprised voice. "What the fuck!"

Two hands roughly shoved aside the bathroom door and flipped off the shower, dragging her out. She vaguely noted that he made sure she wasn't facing the bathroom mirror.

He tossed her on the bed and immediately grabbed her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. Blaise could already tell she was panicking, her breath hitching a bit at the sight they had left in the bathroom. Fuck, it wasn't much, but he was already silently locking down his flat, making sure that only one Greengrass could get in.

Why exactly hadn't he considered that Astoria would have access to his place, since they had been friends for the shortest time?

It wasn't time to worry about that though; he had other things to attend to. Holding her chin tightly, he ignored her tears for just a moment. "Did you see her?"

She shook her head dumbly, and he reminded himself that it was a message, and could be completely fake for all they knew; a decoy to set Malfoy off when he found out, and earn herself a more satisfying show. After all, Astoria was twisted.

He cursed, and grabbed a pair of shorts to throw over the boxers he had on. He tossed her an oversized shirt of his, something he had _never_ done before, and snatched up his wand. "Put on some clothes, I won't be killing Potter today."

She tossed the piece of material over her body, standing to watch him. "What are you taking about?"

He pointed a finger towards the bathroom. "Well, I'm going to need to call some fucking Auror's to come and check out all the lovely blood on my bathroom mirror!"

* * *

><p>A very concerned Harry, sick Ginny and fuming Blaise were the first to be in his office at four. Malfoy had yet to learn the news, and Harry was sincerely hoping to tell him at the end of their little meeting, unless Ginny said something and blew everything to hell.<p>

She was looking pretty colorless.

By the time four twenty had rolled around, all were present. Harry looked at every face; Malfoy, Ginny, Blaise, Theo, Pansy, and Daphne.

Draco's nerves were gone and he seemed someplace between regretful and angry every minute. Potter was hoping to convince Ginny to explain the story; no matter how ashen she looked, simply because Malfoy wouldn't hit a girl.

He sighed. "Had anyone got any clue about what's happened to Hermione," he drawled, wondering what the point of this was in the first place. Beside the event at Blaise's, there obviously hadn't been any leads. He assumed the Ministry was trying to keep their nerves down, but he was certain this wasn't the way.

After several no's, Harry turned his gaze to the ginger girl. "What did the message mean," he asked, forcing his eyes to stay open. Merlin, it had been busy already.

She bit her lip. "I think Astoria Greengrass had been trying to contact-"

"You're working with her," Draco cut in bluntly, earning a glare from everyone in the room. He was jumping to conclusions now. "Or, you were. She thinks you might still be willing."

The girl looked surprised. "Yes actually. She agreed to let me in on a few things if I agreed to help her with something. Of course I said no-"

"Because saying anything else would get you murdered," Pansy muttered, going to sit on Harry's lap. He looked appalled by the mere thought of such an intimate act with her, in his lap, in his office, with a group full of people. Apparently unaffected, she sat anyways.

Ginny gave the girl a cold glare. Despite the Slytherin's occasional kind comments and civil actions, she still knew that Pansy hated her. She was the ex, the cheater, the one that assisted in helping Marcus Flint. It reminded the ginger a lot of their school days, and how Pansy thought her inferior even then.

"Shut up Parkinson," she said, not at all in the mood to deal with her. "This isn't about me."

She shrugged. "I just think it's interesting that you, out of everyone got the message. I thought it would be Draco; he is the target after all."

Draco opened his mouth to reply but the ashen redhead beat him to it. "It's not like I asked for it! Astoria is apparently delirious enough to believe I'll assist her, and that's exactly what the _Ministry _wants me to do, as you are well aware." Her eyes were narrowed into slits, taking in the busty Slytherin. Why couldn't she have brought this up last week when the issue began, instead of in front of all these people?

"Oh yes," she mocked, "the Ministry wants you to do this to help Hermione Granger. I think it's ridiculous! You're not even off your probation Weasely, yet they are willing to let you have your wand back simply to help? None of us can even be sure you won't turn on us!"

No one spoke to this. Everyone was focused on the forming argument between the two.

"I wouldn't," she fumed, hands clenched. "I learned my lesson and I won't be doing it again." She inclined her head a bit. "I even lost the respect of one of my best friends-"

"Ex-boyfriend-"

"All because I was wrapped up in my own little world," she continued eyes wide. "And stop interrupting me!"

"Stop claiming to be innocent! There's no denying you have put her in harms way before; why wouldn't you do it again? To keep Zabini maybe? Are you hoping he won't turn on you like Harry?" Her lip turned up into a sneer as she spoke next. "You know he's concerned you will."

Ginny blanched a bit, having not even known it was that obvious, but Blaise stepped into their conversation. "Pansy, drop it. My relationship is none of your concern."

She glared and leaned back into her rigid boyfriend, who had tensed sometime at the beginning of all that. "Don't blame me Blaise; I'm just pointing out what everyone has been thinking."

"But I'm not conceited! I'm not going to blow everything off just to gain an upper hand Parkinson," Ginny said, shaking her head.

"You're right," the girl replied, shaking her head, "you already made that mistake by jumping to conclusions once when with Harry."

"I did not jump to conclusions! You were going to-"

"Would it surprise you," Pansy interrupted, suddenly grinning, "to know that when Flint told you that I was lusting after Harry, I wasn't even interested yet? You're pride got in the way and blinded you of all thoughts, of any consideration with asking him how he felt about me and if he would really cheat, anything. You got all worked up and destroyed years of friendships over a lie."

Ginny's face was completely void of emotion. Without saying a word, she got up and walked calmly out, not bothering to glance back.

Blaise groaned. "Was that really fucking necessary Pansy," he growled, turning to pursue the retreating girl. He decided he at least owed her that.

The room grew very quiet. Daphne shuffled her feet and waited for Harry to continue, grasping Theo's hand for something to do. Malfoy was still leaning tensely against the bookcase, face masked since the conversation began. Harry was rubbing the bridge of his nose, deciding that every female in the world was itching for a reason to destroy someone's life, emotionally or otherwise.

Pansy spoke first. She removed herself entirely from Harry's lap, straightening her skirt. She didn't look ashamed at the outburst she used, but Pansy rarely ever looked ashamed. Bending to kiss him lightly on the forehead, she turned and made her way out through his private Floo without a word.

It was then that Daphne spoke. "That was…lovely."

"Indeed," Harry grumbled, now wondering if his boss was hoping for something to happen, so they would be distracted with other things. Although he would need to speak with Pansy later, this wasn't enough of a delay to cause his mind to stray.

"So is there anything important to gain out of this meeting," Nott asked, looking around uncomfortably. The other two boys in the room rightly assumed that he wanted to leave before there was yet another fight between someone.

Potter shook his head, seeming very tired for four-thirty in the afternoon. "No, it's no longer important. Ginny ran away with her explanation of the coded message, and the only thing I really have to share is something with Malfoy." He glanced up at the blond boy and could see a hint of restrained anger there. Unless it was Hermione, safe and alive, it didn't appear anything would please him.

Theo nodded. "Alright then. Well, I guess we will just be going. Let us know if there's anything we can do." Harry nodded, and barely bothered to wave as the pair left. He appeared as tired as Malfoy, but he knew that wasn't the truth. Draco had to be spending far more hours awake.

"What is it you want to show me Potter," he asked, speaking for the first time since he walked in. Harry raised an eyebrow at the sound of his voice. He seemed a bit…parched. The last time he could recall Draco ever sounding strained like that was in their sixth year when he found him in the bathroom. Even the attack on Hermione late last year hadn't caused this much concern.

"Zabini and Ginny woke up this morning to an… interesting sight," Harry began, not sure if he would be bothered by the news. It could mean nothing, or something horrible, but they just didn't know yet.

"Don't drag it out Potter, I don't have the patience today," he said tiredly.

The dark-haired boy nodded. "They found blood splattered on Blaise's bathroom mirror, and a lot of Hermione's hair on the sink."

Malfoy was suddenly a lot closer, leaning on the other man's desk. "But no Hermione."

Harry shook his head, and the blond let out an exasperated sigh. "It doesn't mean anything is fucking wrong then! Astoria's probably just trying to psyche me out." He was shaking his head, staring angrily at the nearby bookshelf he had abandoned.

"We're hoping so, and some Medi-witches are already testing the blood to make sure its not-"

"Of course its not," he snapped, clenching his hands around his arms.

Harry opened his mouth to reply, but clamped it shut again. His childhood enemy seemed to be tearing himself apart over this, and the guilt now represented in his eyes was enough to keep the logical comment from escaping his lips. Until they knew for certain, he would be keeping the same belief.

But as Draco turned and left his office, Harry couldn't help but sigh. He may need to stay level-headed for the case, but the swirl of emotions that boy had going on right now was obnoxious. He was beginning to wonder if he really would try to kill someone this time.

* * *

><p>The pain in her head kept her on the floor. She could feel it beneath her palms; rough and splintered. Actually, she was fairly certain that there were at least a few splinters in her back as her senses returned. And everything was quite painful.<p>

The last thing she did was open her eyes into the unfamiliar surroundings. The dim light in this place hurt her throbbing head, and she shut them again. There was a relatively dominate pain in her side as well, and she was really beginning to notice that she needed to be more alert; ready for anything.

_What happened? _

Slowly, the events of her last conscious experience drifted into her mind: going to Greengrass Mansion, being hit in the head twice, noticing the blood on her palm, and seeing Astoria Greengrass right before she passed out.

As that thought sprang through her mind, she knew she must get up. Greengrass was willing to hurt her before, and there was no doubt in her mind that she would try again. Reaching her hand down, hit brushed against a painful, warm spot on her hip before sliding into her pocket. Unfortunately, she discovered her wand was not there.

_Of course its not; if she is here someplace, she's not going to leave me with a way to defend myself. _

She groaned and tried rolling onto the side of her body that wasn't in pain, without opening her eyes. The splitting headache was still there, and the recent blows to her head were making her stomach flip. _How long have I even been here?_

She felt around and clamped her hand onto something that felt soft but worn. Cracking her eyes open just a bit, she saw that it was some type of furniture, and no one occupied it. Dragging herself up onto the piece, she decided it had to be a sofa, and rested her head on one armrest, feet on the other.

_Great, I'm handicapped and losing blood. Now what am I supposed to do?_

Gently, she reached back and touched the sore part of her head. Pulling back and glancing at her palm, she noticed there was dried blood there, but no new blood. Either someone had healed her or she had herself, because at the rate it had originally been bleeding, if she had passed out she would probably be dead right now.

Instantly, she decided there must be someone besides Astoria there.

_Else she is fixing me up just to kill me. Wouldn't that be pleasant?_

Her hand moved to the damp spot on her hip that was tender to the touch. Brushing her fingers over it, she noticed this time that there was blood.

_Great…_

Where was the girl in question anyways?

She gently relaxed into the pillows, feeling herself slipping back into unconsciousness. _No…I have to stay awake… _But the sofa was so inviting, and her body so tired, that just a few minutes couldn't hurt…

* * *

><p>Wednesday the ninth of March, Draco finally slept a bit, having been over exhausted and passed out on the bed he had shared with Hermione days before.<p>

And as he slept, another watched him from the doorway, grinning.

He was almost hers, and she knew it. Once Granger was well enough, she would ironically end her. At that thought, the girl chuckled.

The noise startled Malfoy, and he instantly sat up, staring right through her. She attempted to regulate her breathing with his, hopefully so he wouldn't notice her. But, the boy was already climbing out of bed, wand ready.

She waited until she saw him begin to walk, and tentively stepped backwards, her steps barely off from his own. He was staring straight into her eyes, eyes that he simply couldn't see, but the intensity there was unnerving. He didn't seem to notice the slight sound of her late footsteps yet, however.

She backed into the living room, careful to not hit anything. Her wand sat in her pocket, ready to use if necessary. Which would be a shame; he looked so cute when he was unnerved.

They remained standing in the living room silently for several minutes, the blond's wand still raised and now in the wrong direction. She was looking at his profile and decided that he really did have a nice body, more so now that she could examine him without that filth at his side.

She watched him sigh, and rub his nose. The next words out of his mouth made her blood run cold, "I'm sorry Hermione," he was saying, his voice somewhere between angry and devastated, "I'm sorry I wasn't there. But I'm going to find you."

Her mood soured, and she waited impatiently for him to return to bed. Eventually, at nearly dawn, he did, and she walked briskly back to the girl's old bedroom.

He would realize he didn't need her soon enough. She didn't need the girl much anymore, so he would realize it once the stupid Mudblood was out of the way, permantly.

* * *

><p>Later that same day, Draco sat in her old room, thinking.<p>

_The blood doesn't mean anything,_ he decided, trying to make his mind think on a lighter note. Theo had tried to come over earlier and drag him out, but he would have none of it. He had to think, to figure out where she had been taken to.

He had decided that she was still alive, despite the message left all over Blaise's bathroom mirror. He had not tried to figure out if anyone knew yet whether or not it was hers; it didn't make a difference. If Hermione was dead, he was sure that Astoria would come strolling back, simply because she seemed to always do that when she wanted something. She had gone up to Hermione weeks ago and slapped her senseless when she wanted her to stay away from him, she had staked out his apartment and even thrown a fit when he denied her. Whenever she thought she had succeeded or would succeed, she came back and tried to snog him. But no, if she came back before Hermione did, he would kill her; because he was certain Granger would already be dead.

And that thought was daunting. He couldn't imagine her being dead after having done so much to help her with her life. He had kept her away from her ex, and even housed a 'Mudblood' when he would typically just send her on her way. He had tried everything to fix her life, and then he had tried to fix his own in the process. But now, they both seemed to be in shambles.

His head was in his hands. There had to be something he could do, some way to figure out how to get to her. He could remember Potter's words from days ago, telling him about her appearance in this flat; _Cunningham said that the sensors apparently jumped off the walls last night for about an hour, right here, signaling that Astoria was __inside __this flat for a short amount of time._

But how the fuck was she getting in? He shuddered, remembering waking up last night and having the strange sensation that he was being watched, yet he couldn't see anyone. The thought of someone watching him, possibly with an invisibility cloak or disillusionment charm, was unsettling. But he was willing to bet it was Astoria.

Now, how did he make sure? If he could grab her, it would help him but that depended on whether or not she came back. For all he knew, he was being overly-paranoid and she had stopped coming the moment she had a hold of Hermione

And he was beginning to wonder why exactly her fate played out so well. It was very convenient that the one time she went there, Greengrass was there and ready. No, there was no way she had just had that happen unplanned. Some effort had been made to make sure everything had played out just perfectly, he was sure of it. The question was, how did Astoria manage it?

He groaned. This issue was wearing him thin, and he just hoped they found her, alive.

* * *

><p>The following day, Pansy sat beside Harry in his office again, the boy still irritated with her for making such a big scene just the other day. There was enough to worry about at the moment, and she could settle her pointless arguments another time when everyone was under less stress.<p>

Did it even matter anymore why Ginny had done it, what she had thought about when Flint came to her? Flint was dead, and their deal severed a long time ago. Relationships had changed, and nothing was the same anymore, yet she had to dig up ancient history?

He didn't care anymore why she had done it, or any of that. He had Pansy now, and Ginny seemed happier with her Italian boyfriend. The past could stay the past.

Pansy was idly twirling her quill, waiting for him to begin another long, confusing conversation about where Hermione could be without any evidence to support anything. He had been thinking out loud all day, and now he knew she was hopelessly lost. He would be too, if someone just kept talking in circles.

"It doesn't make sense," he muttered, finally tossing the papers away. "We've checked everywhere, including that entire street in muggle London, and nothing." She could tell he was frustrated.

"I know," she said soothingly, finally able to respond to something he said. She stood and rubbed his shoulders, knowing he hadn't gone to sleep until the wee hours of the morning. "We'll find her."

"I know," he spat, standing so he could pace. "It doesn't make sense though! Cunningham said that we nearly have her location locked, but Hermione's magic seems to be dying. I'm going to guess she's bloody wounded still. Whatever Astoria did, it's affecting her."

Pansy nodded, biting her finger. They had had this conversation twice this morning.

"She was at Malfoy's apartment last night, and she was there for a good while! I want to fucking blame him, but he's too torn up about everything to be behind anything. We thought she was located in some little baker's shop on that street, but when we went through the muggle building we couldn't find her. There were no hidden rooms, nothing. Yet the tracking device said she was there."

Pansy nodded again. "Was she cloaked or anything?"

He shook his head. "We would have been able to locate that. I had thought that maybe she was hiding in the top room of the building, but even from outside you can see that the top was recently destroyed. No one goes up there, and nearly the entire top is demolished. There's part of a corner, but that's about it. We would have seen them."

The girl sighed. "Have you told Draco any of this yet?"

He shrugged. "I plan to owl him later, keep him informed."

"Has he even come to see the results from the tracking spell," she asked, eyebrow raised.

"He refuses. Malfoy says he doesn't want to think about Greengrass being in his flat."

She nodded, sitting on the desk. "Will you please relax a bit? We've gone over this three times, and nothing has changed. I'm sure there will be a fixed location soon, and then the Auror's can go and arrest her. Everything will be fine."

He scoffed. "I'm sick of hearing that. Nothing is fine, because both of them are still together. Astoria is a major threat as long as she doesn't have a wand, and if she had an injury that's even worse. Nothing is alright until we find them both."

Pansy sighed, watching him begin to pace again. Harry and Draco might as well start hanging out together, because she was certain the blond would be doing almost the exact same thing; worrying.

* * *

><p><strong>An: **It's nearing the end! Review?


	13. Week 20 Part 2

**A/n: **Last sad chapter before we get onto happier things :) Don't worry, I promise the ending is not horribly depressing...just stick with me until then to see how things go! Thanks to my beta **ViralAnomaly** as always! **Not yet edited.

* * *

><p><strong>Bambi: <strong>They are aren't they! And Blaise's? We'll have to see..

**mysexylover: **He could've, had he known she was really there and he wasn't just imagining things.

**Eric: **Glad you liked it! I tried to reflect on everything...

**I vIsItEd DrAcO lAsT nIgHt**: Hope this helps!

**The Butterfly Effect**: Her hand? Merlin are you vicious!

**lulu**: Here!

**Claire**: Of course!

**Hooker**: Very depressing! You will see...

**Readingismypassion**: Soon enough?

**Jelisha Baby 22**: Here's more!

**They Call Me Ginger**: Here you go!

* * *

><p><strong>Week 20: March 10-March 13 Sunday<br>**

The next time Hermione woke up, it was an awful lot brighter. Her hip was still in pain, and she felt as disoriented as before, but she at least remembered where she was, and that sleeping again would possibly cost her life.

Sitting up slowly, she was dark hair blowing in a breeze. Following the hair up to a face, she saw Astoria Greengrass watching her intently from a chair across from her, eyes dark.

She also noticed that they were sitting up high, someplace open, because this place had no ceiling, and the cold breeze was attacking her skin.

The girl's eyes were still on her. It seemed like an eternity before Astoria spoke. "Mudblood."

Hermione inclined her head, but decided to stay quiet for now, settling for a glare. Her head hurt and her hip was on fire, but she would not allow this girl to best her again. Wandless or not, she didn't care. Astoria was a weak witch when it came to dueling, and she doubted the girl knew how to hit. She just needed the opportune moment to try and gain the upper hand.

"Like the view," she asked casually, looking around. "I think it was better before the old war blew the top off of this place. There was less of a breeze."

She was barely listening to the girl. Her focus was on the large, ugly cut through her forehead; like she had taken a fall a while back and it hadn't healed all the way. Even if it did, she suspected it would heal up badly and leave an ugly scar on the girl's porcelain skin. In fact, she seemed rather distressed since their last encounter.

Before, she had been collected in fine clothing and cleaned to perfection. Now her skin was cut and bruised, and the cut on her forehead screamed at Hermione.

_Maybe that's why she's been so strange lately, she's had head trauma. _But, she didn't remember anything like that the last time she had seen her, before the attack. Granted, she had seen her very few times before this. Still, she didn't think that would explain everything, but maybe the recent death of her estranged husband?

_Possibly. I never did see this girl as a killer, after all._

When the girl finally realized she wouldn't get a response, she continued. "I always thought this would be the perfect escape, and it turns out I was right. I never thought I would be using it for this purpose though, exactly." The malice in her voice was obvious as she leaned forwards. "It's still handy though."

"I see," Hermione replied, eyebrow raised. They were certainly not there to talk, and she was beginning to feel agitated, waiting to see when the girl would strike.

Apparently though, she could sense that she was anxious. "Don't worry Granger; I'm not finished with you yet."

"Then what are you waiting for," she tested, the pain from the sun, hidden by clouds, enlarging her headache.

She chuckled. "The opportune moment."

* * *

><p>Friday the 11, Theo convinced Daphne to come with him the bookstore his grandmother owned. He was thinking about Granger now, remembering the first time Draco had brought her, and made him promise to watch her.<p>

_Draco smirked. "It certainly will be." He glanced one last time longingly at Granger. "Take damn good care of her."_

_"You'll only be gone a few hours, and she's a big girl. I'll manage."_

He watched Daphne flipping through a few books, trying to take her mind off of things, and it just reminded him more of the past.

_"I never pictured you in a Muggle bookshop Theo," Hermione said, glancing up and across the short table at the boy who had kept a close eye on her but not really talked. "I mean, just with the Pureblood status and all-"_

_"Ranks of blood don't hold as much importance as they once did," he pointed out, cutting her off. She had found in the last few hours, Theo was not all bad company, just rather quiet and he seemed to keep to himself. But he had had a few comments over the past few hours at made Hermione's lips turn up into a smile._

_"I'm glad you don't hold that against me."_

_"What?"_

_"That I'm muggleborn."_

_He shrugged. "Did I ever though?"_

_Hermione thought for a moment. "No, not you particularly. I guess it was more Draco and Zabini."_

_He smirked, something that reminded Hermione a lot of the blond Slytherin who had been haunting her dreams lately (and not at all in a way that she wanted to admit). "Interesting how I have become Theo to you in a matter of hours but Blaise is still referred to as Zabini."_

_She shrugged. "I haven't talked to him for years."_

_"I guess that will change come Friday then, hmm?"_

_She looked up sharply. "You know about that?"_

_"Of course. Draco mentioned it."_

_"I suppose he would," she muttered, looking down at the books next to her. It was quite the pile._

_"Don't fret, he didn't tell me anything more." She nodded at him, but remained quiet, looking at the pile of books she had collected._

_"I'll have to narrow all these down. I can't afford all these on my budget."_

_Theo raised an eyebrow and looked over her head at the sudden appearance of a very blond head. "You shouldn't really worry about money."_

_"Why not?"_

_"You do have Draco you know. He fancies you."_

_That sounds so much like what Harry said.__ "What? How-"_

_He held up a hand. "Perhaps you should start looking before he returns."_

_Hermione opened her mouth to continue the talk, but stopped when she realized just how many books there really were to go through...how long had it been since she'd been in a Muggle bookshop, really?_

_Draco showed up several minutes later, having given Hermione time to look through the large pile of books beside her, noticing it was now next to Nott and only two books in Hermione's hands. This didn't look quite right._

_"What have we here?"_

_Hermione smiled. "I picked these," she said simply, ignoring the pile of books the best she could, knowing she could always come back to retrieve them if she wished._

_Draco raised an eyebrow. "And the rest? Theo, your not much of a reader mate."_

_"I'm not," he agreed. "I said I would return these to the shelves for Hermione. After hours of course." He gave a familiar smile to Draco. "I do all my work after hours."_

_"I bet you do," Draco replied, holding his stare at his friend a moment longer. "We best get going Hermione. The weather isn't getting any nicer."_

_"I would think not," she replied, pulling on her coat. "It looks beautiful though."_

_Draco laughed. "Terribly beautiful." He glanced at Theo. "I'll help you move these to the counter before I leave."_

_"That will be appreciated," Theo said with a half smile. They separated the pile so each picked up about five rather fat books and placed them on the counter nearby. Theo could've easily done this himself._

_Draco slipped him a small pouch. "Should cover it. If you need more...__call __me and I'll bring more by."_

_"This is your idea of a present? This is a small library."_

_He shrugged. "At least this way I can't go wrong. After all, she did pick all of these out herself." Theo nodded. "Blaise should be calling tonight sometime, to update you. And again probably Friday. I doubt I'll see you again before the Ball."_

_Theo nodded. "I expected as much. After all this though we must go back to spending some time together. Life really has become lonely. I never realized how few friends I had left until she came back into our lives." He glanced at Hermione who was looking in the opposite direction at the snow covered world outside. "I suppose I never thought she would be around again."_

_Draco nodded. "The feeling is mutual."_

It had seemed so easy then, to help Malfoy with the girl. Sending Flint to Azkaban was supposed to be the end of that journey, not the beginning of all of this. And now Potter and Malfoy were going to make their lives hell trying to find Hermione and Greengrass.

Watching the elder Greengrass now, he smiled lightly. She didn't look half as content reading as Granger did, but it felt right. He wasn't looking for the bookworm, but the blond, occasional reader with the demented sister. He wanted to make her feel better, and make her not be so depressed over this apparent monster her family member had become.

Since it was early in the day, the bookshop was relatively empty. He left his spot behind the counter and walked up behind her, rapping his arms around her waist. She glanced back at the tall man, surprised by his actions. They weren't dating, after all.

"How are you," he asked quietly.

She shrugged a book in her grab. "Worried, I guess. It's funny actually, I came here looking for something to preoccupy my time, and I ended up finding books for Granger instead."

He grinned. "Perhaps you can give one to her when she comes back."

Daphne nodded, fighting down the weight in her stomach. She didn't even want to voice the question of _if _she would come back, because it was already on everyone's mind. Instead, she chose to move out of his grasp and hand him the book. "I will then. I think she'd like that one."

He glanced down at the title and chuckled. "Seems appropriate."

She nodded again, and followed him to the register so he could pay for it. She would simply have to pay him back later, in secret.

Glancing across the street she caught sight of the bakery, and the top of the building that she had once spent her time in.

* * *

><p>She didn't like to spend time at his flat now, not since they found the blood on his mirror. Blaise had assured her several times that everything was fine, and that he had made damn sure that she couldn't get in again, but that didn't make her feel better.<p>

After all, Astoria had gotten into Malfoy's flat more then once.

Sitting on his sofa, she clutched a pillow. There was absolutely no reason why she should've gone after Blaise's house instead of Malfoy's, since Malfoy was the one she was possessed with.

But, she had sent Ginny herself a message, which meant she wanted her help. And that was the only reason she could think of that would make her leave signs here in Blaise's apartment instead of Draco's.

_How did she even know I would be here that night?_

There was something terribly twisted about that, and she didn't want to see the outcome of Astoria's game. It was a mess, and it had tangled every last one of them, save her brother who was still being treated, into it all.

The comforting form of her new boyfriend sat beside her, and she clutched his hand. Everyone was worn thin, and it was only a matter of time before something happened, and someone ended up dead. She was certain.

If Astoria had Hermione captive, she planned to kill her. But, if anyone found them, the Greengrass girl might die herself.

That was, if Hermione didn't defend herself first.

He kissed her temple. "Don't think about it."

"I can't help it," she said, glancing at the bathroom. "We both know it was her blood."

"And Malfoy will know tomorrow," he said carefully, knowing it wouldn't go over well. The only reason they already knew was because Ginny had been insistent to check with the Ministry every two hours since the blood samples were taken, and they had finally been told something. "It doesn't mean she's gone."

"I know. It just makes it more complicated doesn't it?" He pursed his lips, and nodded grimly.

* * *

><p>By noon that following morning, Draco was sure he would explode unless he got some answers.<p>

The tests were back; it was his girlfriend's blood. And that did very little to settle his nerves.

He had decided that if he remained alone any longer in that apartment, where apparently Astoria visited whenever she damn well pleased, he would start killing people. After a lot of contemplation earlier that morning, he grabbed his cloak and apparated away from the building, making sure he checked everything he possibly could.

Draco appeared outside of Malfoy Manor's boundaries. Even after all the years of neglect, the wards were still intact, because of all the generations of Malfoy's that had reinforced them. They would have probably lasted another century before anyone needed to worry, but apparently he would be interfering before then.

How long ago had he decided he would need to return to the Manor? Never had he once expected to return to this horrible place simply to block out other thoughts.

Ironic, how he was using the painful memories of years past to cope with the terrible thoughts flying through his head now, of where she was. The Mansion had done nothing to help them find her, and she could be anywhere. He needed a diversion, and he would use the fucking Manor if he had to.

He had truly forgotten how long the walk was when you didn't apparate straight in. But he liked the fresh air, the way that it blew through his messy hair and ruffled the leaves on nearby trees. It was almost refreshing, if his mind would focus on it.

Eventually, he reached the Manor door. After making sure any of the guards on the door were down, he pushed open the heavy stone and looked into his former home.

If the outside was a mess, with its overgrown vines and tall grass, then the inside was about the same. Dust coated every last piece of furniture in the entrance, and his assumptions of a decent living space were destroyed as he looked at the floor and saw the tell-tale signs of the past war, and the dried blood there.

_Fucking brilliant. _

He kept his cloak on, walking through the dirty room into a long hallway, doors all the way down, and immediately off to the left it opened into a large sitting room. He stepped in, hands shoved into his pockets, looking around.

He could remember so many things about this place, from his childhood to watching his aunt carve words into Granger's skin. He could remember hiding like a coward in his rooms, away from the war when it became too much. He recalled his mother comforting him when his father started his Death Eater work again, and how scared it made him when he was too young to really understand.

When he got older, his father pounded the things he was expected to follow into his head through countless hours of screaming and hitting. It had made him cold, and angry. Here was a man choosing his future for him, and Draco had absolutely hated it.

Sitting down on a dusty piece of furniture, he put his head in his hands. Reflecting on everything between then and now, he couldn't decide which situation hurt him more; his family, or the girl he had fallen for?

Just then, he didn't want to consider.

The headache was back, and now it was throbbing. He had been getting them off and on since Sunday, when she disappeared. It had been nearly a week now, a fucking week! A week and absolutely nothing had been done. _Why hadn't they located Astoria's magic yet? Fuck, why hadn't they just tracked Hermione's? It wasn't split! _But Potter had droned on about her being hurt or something, which was _obvious _if her blood was all over Blaise's bathroom mirror!

He ran a hand over his face, staring at the opposite wall. He thought back to first meeting Hermione, the way her hair sat and the way his hormones raged on sight, right up to taking her virginity at twenty-one! And one of his favorite memories, the night he spent Christmas with her:

_Hermione looked delicious in her red sweater that complimented the red earrings he had bought her. He felt a stirring of pride to see her wearing them, and that necklace as well._

_She had a smile playing at her lips when he woke up, and she bent over in a teasing manner so he could look down her shirt. "May I open the box now?"_

_He laughed, sat up and swung her into his lap, smashing his lips into hers. "Not yet love; there are other things to open."_

_"Too many things," she declared, folding her arms._

_He chuckled. "When you're rich, nothing is too many. Don't look so offended dear. The presents aren't for [pity-their things I thought you may enjoy. Except those earrings, and this box. Those were...special purchases."_

_She raised an eyebrow. "What kind of special purchases?"_

_He shrugged. "Spur of the moment. Go on then, open all those."_

_She fidgeted. "Draco...I-"_

_"Don't start feeling bad about not having a material present for me," he said dryly, before kissing her temple. "I'll just consider you my present."_

He sighed. The building was empty, and he was feeling overall painful. His heart hurt, his head hurt, and he was exceptionally angry. And those stupid red studs were sitting in his bedroom, the red sweater wherever she was.

He loved her in red, maybe just because it fed that Gryffindor fire in her, or because it popped off her skin. Either way, it was beautiful. Still though, he loved green an awful lot more.

_Can't help myself. _

He ran a hand through his hair, mind spinning. What was he going to do?

* * *

><p>Hermione hadn't slept again. After seeing the demented girl across from her, she refused to close her eyes. And she refused to leave while her eyes were open apparently.<p>

So they had begun a rotation. The jumpy, skitterish, mental girl continued to move around the space, and Hermione would shift when needed to so she could avoid her. She had yet to figure out how no one saw them, and this silence was deafening.

She never thought she would be held captive like this. She didn't talk to her, hadn't made a long speech yet, and hadn't done anything one would expect. In fact she seemed to be waiting for something.

Eventually, the girl grabbed a random book and chucked it off the place, and Hermione watched it fall. It was strange to be up there, because it seemed that no one ever saw them. A plane had flown overhead and done nothing about the two girls. Of course, Hermione was so terrified being this high up, that she rarely moved or considered things anymore.

"Where is he," she screamed, glaring at her. "Where is he!"

She blinked. "Draco," she asked slowly, clutching her side.

"Of course Draco," she continued, beginning to pace. "Where is he? He should have come ages ago!"

"Here," Hermione asked, scooting away as she moved. She was still wandless and wounded, and decided to push anything just yet.

"Of course here!" Her eyes were large. "He was supposed to come looking for you!"

Her eyes narrowed. "Why would you want that?"

"Ha," she cried, shaking her head, "as if I would ever tell you, Mudblood."

She turned and began walking again, and they didn't speak again.

* * *

><p>Saturday dawned way too early, and Harry found himself beside Malfoy in the Ministry, waiting for Cunningham and another top Auror to lock in the final places for Astoria and Hermione's location, Pansy gripping his hand.<p>

Harry had been owled late last night, and it had taken ages to locate Malfoy. Whatever he had been doing in Malfoy Manor was beyond him, and he just hoped they found her quickly.

"Here we go," Cunningham said, waving his wand again. The map they were looking at was a well drawn one, mirroring both muggle and magical London before them. He flicked his wand again and they watched two small light beams lock in on a location.

Draco's head shot up. "You're wrong. Do it again."

Harry glanced at him. "We have already checked that location," he began. "There's no hidden rooms, and the top of it is entirely ruined. They wouldn't survive at the top."

Draco's eyes were skimming it, his grey orbs taking in the building. "How many floors are there," he suddenly asked.

"What?"

"How many floors!" He turned his gaze now to his former boss.

He shrugged. "Fifteen I believe."

His eyes flashed. "Are you dense?"

"Why?"

"Did you even think, Potter, that maybe someone is hiding up there anyways, or did that muggle side of your mind block out all possibilities?"

"Malfoy-"

"And did you even stop to think, for one fucking moment, that she could very easily cast a disillusionment charm up there?"

Harry's face dropped. _Fucking mistake._

* * *

><p>Hermione was watching her now. She was itching for something to happen. It had been too long since they got up there, and at this point she decided to start taking matters into her own hands.<p>

"What's the point of keeping me here," she asked. Astoria's head shot up, the ugly cut now obviously infected-maybe not for the first time either.

She grinned. "I already told you, we're waiting for him."

"Waiting for him? Waiting for him…Astoria, he can't come if he doesn't even know where we are! Did you even consider that?"

She blinked, and pulled out her wand. "Shut up Mudblood!"

Hermione's eyes danced over the piece of wood. "You finally point it at me? We've been wasting away for a week up here, and now you try to take action because I speak? What's wrong with you! What kind of…I don't even know, _revenge_, is this?"

She glared. "I said shut up!"

"Fine," the Gryffindor said coolly, focusing on what little she knew about her. Arrogant, mental, in love with Malfoy… "Shouldn't you go leave a clue? So Draco can find us?"

The girl grinned. "I left a message."

"One that will lead him here," she continued, having absolutely no idea what she was doing and where she planned to take this. "Maybe it wasn't specific enough, because he's not here yet."

"How would you know," she screamed, rushing up to her so the wand pressed into her forehead. "You don't know anything!"

"I know that he's not even here yet," she bit out, hoping she didn't kill her now that she was annoyed. She needed the girl to be distracted first, so that she could grab the wand, or even try something wandless. Anything, to get her out of there.

And then, she was laughing, laughing and tilting a bit. Hermione's eyes widened at this, thoroughly confused. "You know Mudblood, I never thought about how smart you are. You really caught on to that. How come you didn't catch onto all my other things?"

_Good, she's talking. _"What other things," she asked, not only distracting her but actually curious.

She grinned. "You never knew did you?"

"What?"

Her grin widened. "You never knew that Marcus was cheating on you with me."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "He was always cheating on me; it's not even a big deal anymore."

"Oh, but it is." She was rubbing her hands together, and Granger could see the wild look in her eye. Yeah, something was certainly off about her. "I liked Marcus Flint, he was good to me. I liked my time with him when we decided to meet up and work." Her eyes were wide now, and she could just imagine them popping out of Greengrass' head. "We meant up because he found me in a bar you know."

She wanted to gag. "It may not bother me anymore that he was with you, but I don't need the details."

Astoria was still grinning. "I wouldn't give you any anyways Mudblood." She resumed her pacing again. "I liked Marcus, and he was okay, but I could not forget Draco. I could never forget Draco…" Her voice trailed off, and Hermione wondered if that was all she was going to tell her.

But her mind was far from done thinking about everything:

"_We'll never get in Marcus," she cried, throwing her hands up. "Draco finally figured out that we could get in. This room is barred off we won't-"_

_His resounding slap caused her to hit the floor, and they were both thankful for always putting a silencing charm on the room. He was angry, and pacing the small space that his wife had once slept in. "Stop saying his name!"_

_She whipped her mouth and stood again, glaring at him. "Does it matter? I'm not here for your stupid wife, I'm here for him and I'll say his name if I damn well please!"_

_He grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the wall, his eyes smoldering. "You don't ever listen! You're worse then her!" And then he kissed her, and she clutched at him._

_This relationship was abusive, painful and sexual. She thrived off the abuse he was dealing her. It shouldn't be appealing, but it was._

_And it was only appealing because she knew Draco would have to pity her just like he pitied Granger when she came. If he was willing to extend his protection and his care to the Mudblood, he would have to extend it to her, a Pureblood and his ex girlfriend._

_The plan was perfect._

_He pulled away from her and glared into her eyes. "Remember girl, you're still mine when this is all over. I don't care what Malfoy has to say."_

_She blinked, ignoring the nagging voice in her head that told her to turn and run from that request. "Of course."_

She came out of her thoughts, blinking. Marcus was supposed to be the cruel relationship, and Draco the loving. It hadn't ended up that way though, and the abuse got worse the longer they couldn't reach her.

"_You said this would work!" His slap resounded off her cheek again, and she hit the wall this time. "You said it would work a long time ago!"_

_She choked up a bit of blood, scared of this man again. "Draco-"_

_Slap. "Don't say his fucking name!"_

"_Malfoy could have improved the wards! He seems very protective of her!"_

"_Well, fix it!"_

She closed her eyes. It had only gotten worse from there, after they stopped making anymore progress with getting in. She was supposed to help him, and then she could run into Draco's arms. But it had never happened like that. He had beaten the shit out of her.

And now it was time for Astoria to repay her for the deed. She turned back to her, wand out again. Her eyes were teary. "Marcus was cruel, did you know that? Draco was supposed to save me from him, just like he saved you! He was supposed to take me into his house just like you! And then you could go back to that bastard, you could go back and tolerate him!" She was shaking her head again. "Draco was supposed to come and try to save you, but notice me instead!"

Now, she was beyond confused. _She thinks he's going to want her after all of this? I hope we actually get something checked out on her-it's interesting how she takes things._ Her mind was swimming a bit from thinking too much, but her hip was in more pain. And currently, she was focused on the wand aimed at her.

Hermione didn't even need to say anything now to get the girl to talk. "I want Draco, because he was always supposed to be with me. I wanted him to realize that he hurt me in fifth year when he dumped me so suddenly. There was no reason! We were in love!"

She blinked. "That's a very young age to be-"

"Shut up!" She was shoving the wand towards her, but not touching her with it. _Couldn't she just hex me? _

"But now," she continued, everything is different. We were going to get married someday, once he realized that we were meant to be. And then you had to get in the way! Well, Hermione Granger, you'll never get in the way again!"

Her eyes grew large.

* * *

><p>Theo found himself talking to his fireplace in the back of his family's bookstore later, his grandmother up front. "What is it Malfoy?"<p>

"The bakery across the street," he was saying, seeing to be in a rush, "do you see anyone at the top?"

He blinked. "The top is a mess, no one is up there."

"Damnit, Nott, you're just as stupid as Potter! Does no one believe in disillusionment charms?"

"You think that-"

Draco cut him off. "Yes I think they are up there! Now go and watch! See if anything changes!"

Theo opened his mouth to reply, but Malfoy's face was already fading from the ashes. He turned quickly and jogged up front, grabbing Daphne's hand. "Where are we going," she asked as he drug her into the cold.

"Here," he was saying, shoving a cell phone at her. "Call Blaise, ask him and Ginny to go St. Mungo's."

"What? Did something happen? Did someone find Granger?"

He shook his head, peering up. "We're about to."

* * *

><p>"The muggles will see," Hermione said breathlessly, jumping to her feet and ignoring the pain in her hip.<p>

Astoria chuckled. "Honey, we are shielded from their sight! Don't you get it? I'm not that stupid so as to let anyone see us! No one will ever know what happened to you."

_Well damn. _"Astoria," she said slowly, holding up her hands. "Don't do anything rash. I can help-"

"Now you try to tell me about all this bullshit? No Mudblood, if you cared you would've brought it up ages ago." Her eyes flashed. "You were delaying me, trying to distract me!"

She wanted to cringe. "You were waiting for Draco-"

"But he's not coming," she cried, getting closer to her. The remaining corner was on the opposite side of them, and she had nothing to brace herself again. "You said so!"

"As-"

"Shut up! Shut up shut up! I'm so tired of hearing you speak!" Then, instead of using the wand, she dropped it and gave her a shove. The already terrified Gryffindor screamed and fell backwards.

* * *

><p>"Oh my," Daphne said, closing the cell phone and looking up. Theo was already rushing away when she spoke again. "Do you see that! Theo!"<p>

* * *

><p>"Move," Draco said, shoving some unfortunate man out of his way. Potter, Pansy, and three Auror's were hot on his heels. "I said move already!"<p>

"Draco," Pansy said breathlessly behind him. "Look!"

He glanced up and felt him stomach plummet.

There was Hermione, screaming, and dangling off a roof's edge. He reached into his pocket to draw his wand, but Potter stopped him, directly behind him. "Too many people," he hissed.

"Potter-"

"We have to get inside to do anything," he responded, pulling him across the street. "Before these muggle authorities get involved."

* * *

><p>"You're too bloody loud," Astoria was saying, not even registering that everyone below them could now see Hermione. "Shut up!"<p>

She continued screaming, her side on fire, and her heart hammering in her chest. This could _not _be happening.

"Let go," she said suddenly, kicking at her hands. "You're supposed to fall."

Her legs came towards Hermione's hands, and desperately she grabbed one of her ankles. The girl slipped and fell, sliding towards the edge. "Let go Mudblood, I'm not falling with you!"

She wasn't listening though; she was too busy holding tightly, and Astoria was sliding off the roof.

"Get off," she screamed, kicking her other hand. Pain forcefully struck her fingers and she cried out, releasing her grip on the roof. Below them, she could hear sirens, screams, and a loud, familiar voice.

And then they were tumbling.

* * *

><p>Daphne Greengrass was attempting to shove her way through the crowd, Pansy behind her with another Auror. They could hear screams, and looking up her eyes grew huge.<p>

"Oh Merlin," she said quietly, watching the two forms plummet. She was no where close enough to hear the voice above them scream from his position in the window.

"Arresto Momentum."

* * *

><p><strong>Important An (please read): **Two things: One, this is the last depressing chapter for you to worry about, I'll give that away now. And two: this is something where not quite everything will be answered during the last chapter and epilogue, so don't wait up for it. I'll have another author's note explaining what I mean after the next chapter, because that doesn't mean there won't be an answer for EVERYTHING, just SOME things. Make sense.

Also, the next chapter is not going to be written in the same format as everything else. It's like a closure chapter, before the epilogue, and will only cover the spans of a few days. It will still be fairly long, however.

Now, leave a review so I can know what you thought! I rewrote this three times, and this is the way I liked it best. One took place at Malfoy Manor, the other in a part of Greengrass Mansion. However, this one was my favorite, even if its not yours. I like the way this went, simply because life always takes unexpected turns, and is never predictable.


	14. Aftermath: Week 22

Thanks to my beta **ViralAnomaly! ****Not yet edited.

**Jelisha Baby 22: **I'm sorry! But here it is.

**mysexylover: **True, but sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to...

**I vIsItEd DrAcO lAsT nIgHt: **Yes, it is.

**They Call Me Ginger: **Find out!

**MarieNotMary: **I'm glad you do! There is this one, and then one last one :)

**Eric: **Good question, it's answered here! Some of that is answered, and some is not. Hope you enjoy anyways! And yes, the Malfoy Manor one was interesting too!

**The Butterfly Effect: **Gah?

**Readingismypassion: **Here.

**lulu: **Alright, I will wait then for it :D

**Bambi: **Here's more!

**Hooker: **I believe it will be.

**danibs: **"Arresto Momentum" is a spell to slow down falling objects.

* * *

><p><strong>Aftermath<strong>

**Week 22: One week later. March 22-24 (Middle of the week; snippets of the Aftermath).**

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><p>The first thing she registered was that whatever she was laying on was exceptionally soft, far better then the rooftop she had been living on for days.<p>

_Rooftop. _

Her eyes shot open, the bright light in the room instantly making her shut them again. She groaned, feeling a headache already beginning.

A soft set of fingers skimmed over her face, and she groaned again. Everything was so sore. But this touch was familiar, and she didn't want it to ever go away; she wanted to slip into it and fall back asleep.

"Don't you even dare; come on. You've been out for a week."

_Draco. _She would know that voice anywhere, and gently she cracked her eyes open again to stare up at his aristocratic features. There was worry in his eyes, but he looked thankful when she gave him a small smile. "You scared me," he whispered, leaning his forehead on hers as he spoke.

Hermione blinked. "What happened? Where are we?"

Her boyfriend chuckled, caressing her cheek with his hand as he leaned back again. "Our flat. We waited for your bones to heal, and breathing to become normal. The Healer's numbed the pain, and kept you for two nights. After that it was simply a matter of how long it took for the potion to wear off."

She frowned a bit. "The hospital let me leave early? That doesn't sound right; they should've made me stay until-"

"Rest assured Hermione," he broke in, cutting her off, "that they didn't just let me leave with someone who could possibly be comatose. I had to convince an old schoolmate to stay here until you woke up; she's rather displeased, but it was good Healer training for her."

The girl's eyes widened. "Who?"

Malfoy smiled lightly, and stood. "I'll go get her. You drink this," he said, thrusting a cold glass of water at her. "But not too much." The blonds' pale hand reached down and grasped one of hers, folding it around the glass before he made his departure. It was then, as she brought the glass unsteadily to her lips, that she noticed the room and paused.

The room's bookshelf was littered with unopened cards and boxes and flowers, all addressed to her. She lowered the glass again and stared. How many people knew about that incident exactly, and how?

_I hope my parents haven't been told. I'm sure that would make them like Draco even less._

Her thoughts were interrupted as the blond in question walked back through the door, a pretty woman trailing behind him. She looked familiar, but Hermione simply couldn't place her at that second.

The girl smiled at her as Draco took a seat in the chair beside the bed and spoke, "This is Hannah Abbot, she was in our year, and recently became a Healer. When she heard about you, she agreed to come and watch you specifically, if only because you fought with her in the war," he said, still thinking that was a bit of a strange reason for the girl to agree to stay watching Hermione for ages.

The girl nodded towards his girlfriend. "Hello Hermione, it's good to see you up. How are you feeling?"

She considered that, having only really been noticing her headache. "I have a headache," she began, fidgeting. The action caused pain to shoot through her right hip, and she hissed, "and my hip hurts."

Abbot nodded as though this were completely normal. "You received a deep wound from Miss Greengrass while with her, that is healed but will cause you pain probably for the next few days until you really start moving. The headache is just lack of water Miss Granger, and I advise you to not wander around a lot until you start feeling better. I would lecture to you why, but something tells me you already know the answers anyways." The gentle smile was back again, and Hermione only nodded once, thinking it was odd that she called her 'Miss Granger' every time instead of by her first name.

Apparently, that gave Hannah the okay to turn to Malfoy now. She was pointing to a few bottles on the dusty nightstand he had obviously ignored since she had been taken. "If her headache becomes intolerable, give her one of those bottles. Give her one dose of the other one daily when she starts walking, which can be today if she desires."

Malfoy nodded, although he looked rather skeptical at the idea of her walking so suddenly. Didn't she need more rest or something? After a few more instructions that both adults could have figured out alone, Abbot announced her departure.

"Shouldn't you stay and make sure she is well," he asked, eyebrows drawing together, but Hannah just waves her hand.

"Mr. Malfoy, she is fine. She has been fine for days; just unconscious. The potions have kept her from slipping into a coma, and everything else will be fine so long as she doesn't try running." Hannah smiled down at the Gryffindor. "I hope the two of you get along well enough," she finished, turning to go. Malfoy did not show her out, simply because he already knew she knew the way.

His thumb was running over her cheek again. "I'm so glad you're awake now."

"So am I," she said, leaning into his touch. They were quiet for a moment, before either spoke again. "What happened Draco," she asked, focusing on his distant silver eyes. He just wouldn't look at her.

After a moment, he sighed. Instead of talking, he hopped over her onto the bed and pulled her in close, missing the smell of her usual shampoo in her hair. She was trying to scoot away, not sure what exactly the sudden embrace meant.

He pulled away after a moment and kissed her, the kind of kiss that goes all the way to your toes. She leaned in and deepened it, happy to be back against him, until he pulled away, his forehead on hers again.

"Don't go running off to dangerous spots anymore," he said, his breath on her face.

"I won't," she said, eyes narrowing. The headache wasn't dominate yet, but she was sure it would be if he didn't start making sense. "You still haven't answered my question though," she continued gently, secretly promising herself that if the issue ever came up again, she would put herself back in danger... if the situation called for it.

He sighed. "I know. What do you remember?"

_That's still not answering anything. _"I remember...," she trailed off, thinking. "Falling..."

"_You're too bloody loud," Astoria was saying, not even registering that everyone below them could now see Hermione. "Shut up!"_

_She continued screaming, her side on fire, and her heart hammering in her chest. This could not be happening. _

"_Let go," she said suddenly, kicking at her hands. "You're supposed to fall."_

_Her legs came towards Hermione's hands, and desperately she grabbed one of her ankles. The girl slipped and fell, sliding towards the edge. "Let go Mudblood, I'm not falling with you!"_

_She wasn't listening though; she was too busy holding tightly, and Astoria was sliding off the roof. _

"_Get off," she screamed, kicking her other hand. Pain forcefully struck her fingers and she cried out, releasing her grip on the roof. Below them, she could hear sirens, screams, and a loud, familiar voice._

_And then they were tumbling._

"Hermione," he said gently, rubbing her shoulder, "are you alright?" She had been silent for a moment, staring into space and he got a bit worried.

She glanced back at him again. "We fell off that building - me and Astoria. We were going to die."

He nodded tightly. "Yes, probably, had there not already been wizards on the scene trying to get to you before you fell." His voice had grown tight. "Someone cast a spell and slowed you down so you wouldn't die on impact."

"Arresto Momentum," she said, the spell coming to mind, and she almost recalled hearing that as she fell. "Was that you then?"

He shook his head, looking away. "I was on the roof when you fell off; I had just barely gotten there, but I wasn't quick enough to stop either of you from falling. Potter was still two floors below and cast the spell on you."

Her eyes widened. So Draco had been ahead of everyone, but it had been the wrong place to be at that time. She silently noted to thank Harry for saving her life the next time she saw him. But already she could see the defeat etched into Draco's features. "What's wrong? You should be happy that I'm alright."

"I am," he sighed.

She frowned. "So what's wrong then?

He was quiet for a long time again. "I wasn't there for you; I tried to be, but if Potter hadn't been around you wouldn't be here right now Granger."

She slapped him on the arm. "Shut up. I don't care that Harry saved me instead of you, or whatever. I'm just happy to be alive, thank you, so stop worrying about it! You were there, and if I have to make _you _feel better again I will go into the living room and leave you here!"

He smiled lightly at her then. "I suppose your right."

"Of course I'm right," she joked. The girl snuggled into his chest a bit, wary of her hip, and the first comfortable silence descended on them that wasn't a planned pause before more questions.

Eventually, she did speak again. "Draco?"

"Hmm?"

"What happened to Astoria?"

He stiffened a bit, and she sensed that it had to be bad. "She died."

Hermione bolted upright, but the pain in her hip made her whimper, and his hands were on her in a moment, easing her back into the covers. She looked up at him, the questions swirling in her eyes.

"How," she eventually asked, "Harry saved me-"

"But Potter only saved you," he interrupted. "Hermione, Potter was the closest, hidden wizard to cast the spell at all. You were in a _muggle _part of London; the Auror's couldn't just let us cast off spells in the open. Trust me - I tried. Potter chose to save you instead of Daphne's sister. When you to fell, you fell at slightly different speeds because of a weight difference, and the spell didn't reach her."

She settled further into the covers, sighing. "That's not right Draco. She didn't need to die." She knew that sounded wrong, because the girl had been after her life, but still. She didn't want to think about the mess with muggle press it caused, or the reaction Daphne must be having.

"Are you mad," he asked, placing a hand on her forehead to see if she were well. "You actually cared if-"

"I'm not a heartless git Draco," she snapped, looking away. "Astoria may have been crazy, and mean, but she didn't need to die."

"Hermione-"

"She didn't need to," she snapped. "Trust me, I spent enough time with her to know she wasn't just doing all of this out of jealousy. I bet if she had lived long enough, we would know exactly what was wrong with her. I'm willing to bet it was some sort of psychological disorder."

He sighed, reaching over to rub her shoulder. "Okay, maybe we could've figured it out, but it doesn't make a damn difference to me whether or not she was mentally ill; she hurt you and that's all I care about."

"Draco, it's not that simple. She. Didn't. Have. To. Die." She was glaring at him now, hoping he would see. She didn't have to die, and besides, Hermione was not done with her!

He rolled his eyes, gently pulling her head to look at him again as he leaned over her. "But she did, and I would much rather she have died then you. We can't, and won't, be fixing what happened. If anything, Astoria got out easy; she was going to end up on trial for killing Marcus Flint you know."

"I know," she said, frowning. "And she would be in trouble for the wands she stole, and splitting her magic like that. But still Draco, its not fair." She moved to stand up, but he caught her arm and gently eased her back onto the bed.

"Stop rushing yourself," he soothed. "Just lay with me for a while."

"I am not going to-"

He smoothed her hair back and kissed her, if only to make her shut up for a moment. He knew the questions would ambush him the moment he could talk, but really, he was content just kissing her and knowing she was safe, not answering questions. He really did not want to think about Greengrass at the moment.

But she would have none of it. She broke the kiss quickly and stared up at him, his body leaning over hers now. "Stop trying to end this conversation."

He frowned but didn't move. "I'm trying to end this conversation because it is unpleasant and ruining my good mood."

"Draco," she said, shaking her head. "It's not fair. She should have gone to court for murdering my ex-husband, and she should be seeing someone about what happened to cause her to lose her mind." She shook free of him and sat up, brushing the sticky strands of her hair away. Obviously, she needed to take a real shower, and soon.

He reached over and rubbed her back. "They tried some spells on her body Hermione, and they did find some things but I really don't want to go into any of that right now."

Her eyes flashed and she smiled. "Tell me."

Malfoy frowned. "I really don't think-"

"Tell me," she pressed, shifting while trying to ignore the pain in her hip. "I want to know."

The blond frowned. "You're highly interested about the girl who tried to kill you."

She sighed. "Of course I am! I spent time with her, and I _know _something was wrong with her. She simply didn't make any sense. I bet she had some sort of mental problem."

Instead of replying, he rubbed his cheek again, looking intently into her eyes. A flash of memory from Hannah Abbot came to mind.

_"You have to ask her if she ever fell and cut her head while she was around. If she didn't, there is a large possibility Astoria Greengrass was only confused for a short period of time."_

_"Short period of time? This has been going on for several months! Don't feed me a bunch of bullshit that this is a mental disorder - or that she was 'confused'. Her sister would have known something like that, and she would have told-"_

_"Malfoy," Hannah snapped, forgetting for a moment that they were adults, and she should be acting professionally. Oh well, the blond still knew how to irritate someone. "Stop jumping to conclusions. If you would please stop talking for a moment, perhaps I can give you the same rundown we gave Daphne Greengrass." Her voice grew sad, and he figured she sympathize with the girls loss. He thought she might have lost someone during the war years ago._

_He nodded stiffly and folded his arms over his chest, glaring at the small woman to continue._

_"We think Astoria Greengrass' extreme actions towards the end of her life were due to a psychotic disorder, but not because she was born mental. Psychotic disorders can come from things like head trauma, which Miss Greengrass was victim to. However she acquired the gash is beyond us, but it was enough to cause delusions, such as the concept of taking Miss Granger being to her benefit. It's completely possible that she believed killing her was a good idea. Usually, we would associate the delusion of killing with drug use, muggle or magical. However Miss Greengrass obtained the gash in her head, it led to her overactive mind. What might have been a longing in the beginning became an obsession overtime, and was only furthered when she was hurt. I wish I could explain more, but it's extremely difficult to do without the girl actually here."_

He blinked. The gash had to be more then a week old when she died, at least. It had been nearly two weeks before her death that Hermione was taken, or was it one? He felt confused, all the events slowly meshing together. No matter what he said, he couldn't answer every one of her questions, because he didn't know either.

She was sill staring intently when he finally spoke. "She developed a disorder that effected her brain."

Hermione glared. "That's not what I'm asking."

"Then what are you asking?"

"I'm asking," she said, "to know exactly what happened. Why did she do it? why didn't another Auror try to save her too? Why did she act this way in the first place? When did she develop a disorder Draco? I never noticed anything insanely wrong with her up until now. Please, enlighten me."

He bit his tongue to fight off his sarcasm. "She developed it after your first meeting with her - so no, it doesn't explain everything. It really just leaves a lot more questions then answers." He sighed. "But I can't do anything about that. I can't answer your questions, alright? So I'm sorry." The blond flopped back against the duvet.

The girl sighed as well, and stared down at him. "I know, I'm sorry I'm asking you so many questions. I just, I want answers Draco." She wrapped her arms around herself, ignoring the cut on her hip.

A cool hand snaked around her wrist, and drug her down to lay beside him. "I know, but we can't get any of those right now. I'll take you to St. Mungo's if you desire, or the Ministry to talk to Potter, or wherever you want to get your answers. Just please, don't ask me anymore."

She twisted to look up at him. "It really bothers you doesn't it?"

He laughed dryly. "Of course it bothers me! I didn't know where you were for days on end; you could've already been dead for all I knew. And that all happened because of Astoria. Like I said before love, I would much rather she have died then you."

The girl rolled her eyes. He would keep touching on that, wouldn't he? "Fine, I will refrain from asking you any questions until after we have slept."

"How about until tomorrow? It's nearly dusk you know."

"No, I did not know," she mocked, glancing up again. His silver eyes stared back into hers. "But I suppose tomorrow will work for my questions."

He smirked. "Why is that?"

Leaning up, she pressed her lips tightly against his. "Because I could use a night with just you."

The gleam in his eyes was unmistakable. "I missed you."

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><p><em>"Because saying anything else would get you murdered," Pansy muttered, going to sit on Harry's lap. He looked appalled by the mere thought of such an intimate act with her, in his lap, in his office, with a group full of people. Apparently unaffected, she sat anyways.<em>

_Ginny gave the girl a cold glare. Despite the Slytherin's occasional kind comments and civil actions, she still knew that Pansy hated her. She was the ex, the cheater, the one that assisted in helping Marcus Flint. It reminded the ginger a lot of their school days, and how Pansy thought her inferior even then._

_"Shut up Parkinson," she said, not at all in the mood to deal with her. "This isn't about me."_

_She shrugged. "I just think it's interesting that you, out of everyone got the message. I thought it would be Draco; he is the target after all."_

_Draco opened his mouth to reply but the ashen redhead beat him to it. "It's not like I asked for it! Astoria is apparently delirious enough to believe I'll assist her, and that's exactly what the Ministry wants me to do, as you are well aware." Her eyes were narrowed into slits, taking in the busty Slytherin. Why couldn't she have brought this up last week when the issue began, instead of in front of all these people?_

_"Oh yes," she mocked, "the Ministry wants you to do this to help Hermione Granger. I think it's ridiculous! You're not even off your probation Weasely, yet they are willing to let you have your wand back simply to help? None of us can even be sure you won't turn on us!"_

_No one spoke to this. Everyone was focused on the forming argument between the two._

_"I wouldn't," she fumed, hands clenched. "I learned my lesson and I won't be doing it again." She inclined her head a bit. "I even lost the respect of one of my best friends-"_

_"Ex-boyfriend-"_

_"All because I was wrapped up in my own little world," she continued eyes wide. "And stop interrupting me!"_

_"Stop claiming to be innocent! There's no denying you have put her in harms way before; why wouldn't you do it again? To keep Zabini maybe? Are you hoping he won't turn on you like Harry?" Her lip turned up into a sneer as she spoke next. "You know he's concerned you will."_

_Ginny blanched a bit, having not even known it was that obvious, but Blaise stepped into their conversation. "Pansy, drop it. My relationship is none of your concern."_

_She glared and leaned back into her rigid boyfriend, who had tensed sometime at the beginning of all that. "Don't blame me Blaise; I'm just pointing out what everyone has been thinking."_

_"But I'm not conceited! I'm not going to blow everything off just to gain an upper hand Parkinson," Ginny said, shaking her head._

_"You're right," the girl replied, shaking her head, "you already made that mistake by jumping to conclusions once when with Harry."_

_"I did not jump to conclusions! You were going to-"_

_"Would it surprise you," Pansy interrupted, suddenly grinning, "to know that when Flint told you that I was lusting after Harry, I wasn't even interested yet? You're pride got in the way and blinded you of all thoughts, of any consideration with asking him how he felt about me and if he would really cheat, anything. You got all worked up and destroyed years of friendships over a lie."_

_Ginny's face was completely void of emotion. Without saying a word, she got up and walked calmly out, not bothering to glance back._

_Blaise groaned. "Was that really fucking necessary Pansy," he growled, turning to pursue the retreating girl. He decided he at least owed her that._

_The room grew very quiet. Daphne shuffled her feet and waited for Harry to continue, grasping Theo's hand for something to do. Malfoy was still leaning tensely against the bookcase, face masked since the conversation began. Harry was rubbing the bridge of his nose, deciding that every female in the world was itching for a reason to destroy someone's life, emotionally or otherwise._

_Pansy spoke first. She removed herself entirely from Harry's lap, straightening her skirt. She didn't look ashamed at the outburst she used, but Pansy rarely ever looked ashamed. Bending to kiss him lightly on the forehead, she turned and made her way out through his private Floo without a word._

Pansy's eyes blinked open. She yawned, and sat up in the bed she had become quite comfortable with, even if the other occupant was currently running around at work. Harry had not rested since finding Hermione, and losing Astoria Greengrass' life to the unforgiving pavement in muggle London. In fact, he had been working overtime to put the case together.

She sighed and pulled the blankets closer to her. They had been having problems since her outbreak at Ginny over a week ago, and now he was busying himself with work. The-Boy-Who-Lived said that with that bit of drama, the disappearance and return of Granger, and the death of Astoria, he had too much on his mind to think of any one thing.

Healer's from St. Mungo's and pathologists from the Ministry had been talking about Astoria Greengrass off and on the last week and a half. The fact that she had been the murderer of Marcus Flint, and attempted murder on Granger was enough to make her an icon of interest. People had been messing with her brain a lot, or whatever was left of it as far as Pansy was concerned.

From what she had been told late last night, Hermione had finally woken up and Abbot had returned to St. Mungo's, but the girl had yet to have any visitors, as Draco had yet to announce this to anyone. She only heard about it yesterday, when she went to the Ministry to speak to her... Potter, and Abbot had come by with the news.

Where did they lie anyways? Things had gone great for a while, and they had even been dating. But now they were distant and confused, and the relationship was on rocks. They hadn't had a meaningful conversation since they found Hermione. And although that was understandable, it was getting very old to have his excuse of "you can't embarrass me here too" thrown at her every twenty minutes. Really, they just needed to talk about it and get it over with.

She rolled over and closed her eyes again, hoping sleep would come with a far less dramatic dream.

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><p>Ginny Weasley woke up the following day feeling better then she had in weeks. Not only had Greengrass' attack failed, but Hermione was back and safe now, if the letter Blaise had screamed in her ear as a wake-up that morning call were any indication.<p>

Now dressed, she couldn't wait to go see the pair at Malfoy's flat later. No one had gotten to ask Hermione about the events leading up to the fall off the building, and she was intrigued to figure out what had happened. Call it whatever you want, but the girl was curious. Besides, she hadn't died, so she shouldn't feel any guilt.

Astoria Greengrass didn't even pass through her mind; she didn't care to consider the girl's awful end.

Blaise was sitting in his kitchen drinking a mug of morning coffee when she appeared. He smiled up at her and clasped her hand, drawing her in for a kiss. But the girl seemed distracted, and quickly ended it. Meeting his eyes, she sighed.

"When do we go see them?"

The Italian rolled his eyes. "Malfoy said not to come until dinner. Apparently Granger wanted to do something today, and it required a lot of time. We will see them soon, no worries."

She nodded, and gazed out his apartment window. When he realized she wouldn't be speaking again, he did. "Why are you so interested in seeing her? You two haven't really gotten along lately, from what I know. You shouldn't be so excited."

Ginny shrugged. "I guess I just want my friend - my _old _friend, to be alright." Turning her eyes to look at him, she continued, "I do have a heart, despite what Parkinson and everyone else seems to believe."

His hand was immediately on hers, gripping, and she became rather startled. "Don't give another thought to Pansy. She has always held things to memory, simply to throw them back at people when it bests suites her. She has always been like that, completely cruel at times. Why do you think she was so close to Draco during school? The two had the same vibe back then, and acted rather similar. You just didn't see it because Parkinson rarely related to any of you Gryffindors. She might have followed Draco in everything, but she didn't care to waste time on all of you like he did."

She nodded again. "If you say so." The girl stood, and walked back towards his bedroom. The disappointed Blaise sat back and continued to sip his drink, having been expecting a bigger reply then that.

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><p>"I can give you the notes we took about what we found through spells, Miss Granger, but really, her mind was so gone that there was not a lot to search through." He handed her a thick file.<p>

Hermione had gone with Draco that day, the 23rd, to the Ministry to see if they would tell her anything about Astoria. Apparently, this pathologist believed that she would do better reading their notes and findings instead of explaining anything. She was quite annoyed about that, but Malfoy had said it was because the man knew she should be resting.

She still didn't care, however. Talking wouldn't put a lot of strain on her either. So instead of heading to the flat like Malfoy planned, she took up a seat in Harry Potter's office on the other side of the Ministry, claiming that it would be fine.

Now seated there, after the walk away from that dim-witted man, she threw open the file and began to read, not paying her boyfriend a second thought.

_*March 13~_

_Astoria Greengrass died earlier this morning, although the date has not been given to me. After looking over her body, sent to me only an hour ago from St. Mungo's, I have come to several conclusions: _

_~A. Greengrass suffered from a traumatic head injury sometime ago that has resulted in at least a part of her mental insanity. Will check for more approximate date when papers come with clearance to place spells on body. _

_~Malnourished, and developing a case of pneumonia which could have come from her quick jump through Azkaban prison, when killed M. Flint. _

_~Suffered from multiple injuries before death, besides head injury. Cut is quite deep and was badly healed with improper spell, letting the cut continue to worsen and allowed blood to continue coming out. Seems to have been re-administered by her own hand several times, and done poorly each time. _

_*March 14~_

_After doing multiple tests on the body this morning, I have concluded along with Mr. Edwards that any and/or all delusions and hallucinations the girl ever faced were faced during the short span of no more then a week prior to her death. The cut is neither old enough to have been there since the beginning, or infected enough to have been around a long time. _

_A. Greengrass was completely sane when she ended M. Flint's life. _

She paused in her reading. If her late estranged husband had been murdered while she was sane, then when did she start to lose her mind? That meant that she had been completely aware of the consequences of her actions, but when she had taken her, she had possibly been insane?

Or was that wrong? She disappeared on March 6th, which was now over two weeks before. The report was from March 14, so then it would have been March 6 at the earliest that Astoria hurt herself, right? _It sounds right, and that is the day I went to Greengrass Mansion... _

Draco had been watching her the entire time she sat there, reading and thinking about the first two notes, and already he could see where this was going. Potter was likely to return from his meeting with the Aurors soon - which was the only reason they could be there alone anyways.

So this continued for another forty minutes, and the girl had read nearly every piece of paper. Draco himself had already read some of them the previous week while waiting for her to wake up, and already knew what had been wrong with the girl, no matter how much he wished there were more answers.

The bottom line was that she had died, and there would be no justice in that department. She would not go to Azkaban for murder, and she would not suffer. In a way, no one saving the girl had been a blessing on her part. She got off easy, and she probably had never even realized what kind of trouble she was in.

The papers basically dictated that Astoria had been sane up until the last week of her life. People's assumptions and guesses were just that, assumptions and guesses. But as he watched her read, he could speculate the ideas he believed in.

Considering that Hermione had told him that she was waiting for Draco to come save her, and Astoria had believed that would be her moment in time to win him over, he would agree with obsession having been one of her earliest drives. If she could find a way to sneak into his flat, and _watch _them at some point in the night, more then once, then she was borderline insane in his book. Her obsession had become a complete life goal to obtain him as a boyfriend, spouse, anything, and that had blinded her from seeing the big picture, and what her goals were really going to do to her in the end.

In this case, she had died. Up until the moment she died however, she had ruined her life by letting her thoughts get carried away, and breaking multiple laws.

Basically, she had gone from obsessive, to crazy, to losing her mind. And that cost her everything.

But it bothered him. There were answers that they could never understand now; _Why did she do it? Why was she so obsessed? Exactly how deep did the obsession go? How did she get into my flat? How did she know that Hermione would be at the Mansion the other day? Why did she kill Flint? What was the drive there? Why did she keep splitting her magic so much? It just weakened her in the end. What was going on between her and Flint that made them such great allies in the beginning, before Astoria made Ginny take the blame for her part in Flint's game? _

_Why can neither of us have normal ex's? _He shook his head. His thoughts were jumbled, even if he knew the main topic: they would never have every answer, and he could live with that, so long as she wasn't dead.

He looked over at her. She was almost done, just a few sheets left. He reasoned with himself that there were so many because she had read Greengrass' entire file, while he had only read the papers dealing with her death. It was interesting that the Ministry would give her the entire file anyways, but he decided it had to be because of her friendship with Potter. That seemed to always help you.

She looked so pretty with her hair pulled back, eyebrows furrowed as she carefully read each piece, probably documenting them to memory. He was relieved to notice that the color was back in her face, but had yet to reach her cheeks. Oh well, it was better then before.

The office door opened, and Potter came strolling in, pausing when he noticed the two unannounced occupants at his desk. Hermione waved her hand at him, intent on reading, but Draco acknowledged him with a nod.

Shutting the door, he ran up and pulled her into a tight hug, completely knocking the paper from her hands as he picked her up. "Hermione!"

Obviously, she had not suffered from the feelings of uncertainty about things like Harry had. He had been uncertain about how she would be when she woke up, and if she would be scared or affected by the events.

But she had been sitting there, intently reading an article, too busy and engrossed to look up, and he had known she was alright.

"Harry," she gasped as he touched her hip. "You're hurting me!"

He let go a half second later, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry, I completely forgot about your hip," he said, not missing Malfoy's noticeable eye roll from the corners of his eyes.

"It's fine," she said smiling. "I can make the small sacrifice of a painful hip for you, since you saved my life."

Draco was picking up the paper when Potter next spoke. "Oh no, don't go thanking me for Malfoy will try to kill me." He grinned at the blond who just frowned.

She blanched. "He tried to-"

"No I didn't try to kill Saint Potter," he said, frown deepening. "And he knows I won't tyr to either, thank you."

"It's just a joke Hermione," he said sheepishly, still smiling. "It's just great to see you up and about."

"It's great to _be _up and about," she countered, feeling a lot better. Seeing more familiar faces was helping her. There might be no depression and really no pain, minus the hip, but she had not yet seen anyone besides Draco and Abbot, and she couldn't wait for tonight.

"I bet," Harry said, sitting in his own chair. "Now what are you reading," he continued, staring at the large file.

"Astoria's file," she replied, placing the paper back into it.

He nodded once. "I think I wrote maybe one note for that."

"Yes, I read it. However, I don't think stating that it's 'terrifying to watch your friend plummet from a building, while the mental girl falls just below her' really benefits anything."

Harry shrugged. "They wanted my report of what happened."

"That's your report?"

"Of course it is!"

She clicked her tongue. "Harry you write reports like you did schoolwork; badly." He cracked a smile, and even Malfoy smirked.

* * *

><p>It was March 24 when Daphne burst out of Malfoy's flat.<p>

"Fine! Keep thinking that its just great thing that my sister is dead!" She turned and fled down the hallway.

Ginny heaved a sigh. She hadn't meant for it to come off that way! It just well, slipped off her tongue, and now Daphne was going to go cry someplace. The conversation had been dancing tentively around that part of the last two week's events, and when someone had finally stepped on the subject, Greengrass had gone rigid beside Theo.

Everyone had been hoping to hold off on that conversation until Daphne was elsewhere, whether it be asleep or Theo's apartment. The topic was sensitive to the girl, despite knowing everything her younger sister had done and gone through, and facing it now still hurt her a lot. Theo hadn't even dared to go there with her.

Hermione had been in high spirits at first, conversing with everyone about everything she had missed. It was too strange to fall back into this group, after having been absent for the time she was. She felt a little disconnected, especially when conversation was about her and she could not even touch on it.

The Gryffindor had told the group everything about her time on the roof, which Harry had documented in order to tell the Ministry officials later. She had noticed the misinterpretations between her friends during this time, when Draco had asked her about the cut on Astoria's head, and whether or not she had it in the beginning, whereas Harry had already known about the cut from medical reports. Apparently, information had not been transferred well between people.

And now, Daphne was gone because this upset her. There was barely a pause in time after Daphne ran out and Ginny sighed, before Theo stood and excused himself. He already knew she wouldn't apparate with the fit she was in, and would probably just run outside instead. Hoping that she would do that, he bolted out after her.

Hermione sighed. "Things aren't going to calm down for a long while, are they?" Draco squeezed her hand, but no one replied.

Theo found Daphne crying outside the muggle flat, a strange man in rags badgering her for money. "Get lost," he said, stepping in as he sat beside her. The man grumbled, but departed on his way without a second glance.

He squeezed the blond's hand. "Hey."

She nodded her acknowledgement, but didn't reply. Instead, she bent at the waist and buried her head into his lap, crying still. His hand calmly stroked her hair, trying to calm her down. He wanted to say something, but had no idea what would help. Instead, he settled for what he was already doing. When he thought no muggles were watching, he apparated them to his flat.

Greengrass was slightly disoriented when they appeared on his bed, but barely thought about it as she moved to hug him tighter. Nott sighed, knowing they would be doing nothing else the rest of the night.

He placed his hands tightly around her, holding her shaking body to his own. Her tears soaked his clothing, and all she paid attention to was the hand that had moved from her hair to her back, rubbing lightly in soothing circles.

He didn't know how long they sat there in each other's embrace, her crying and him holding her tightly, but eventually she drifted off to sleep against him. He sighed.

She was so torn up, so hurt, by how her sister's life ended. The girl had been blaming herself for it the first few days, about how she could've been a better sister. All the resentment towards what her sister had become couldn't change the fact that they were just that, sisters, or that her last living family member was gone.

Some time after she fell asleep, he kissed her head and nodded off as well.

* * *

><p>Draco kissed her head. The guests were gone, having departed quickly after Theo and Daphne, and now just the two of them remained. She was snuggled against him on the sofa, her head on his shoulder.<p>

She hadn't cried like he had thought she might, but quite the contrary, she had been levelheaded when speaking about anything regarding Astoria, and had answered any questions Potter asked. Twice, he had told the Wonder Boy that the question was out of line, and twice she had told him that it was alright and had answered anyways.

One of the questions had been how she regarded Astoria Greengrass as a person. Malfoy thought it sounded more like a reporter question then an Auror, but he wrote down her answer anyways. All Hermione said was she saw her as a shell of the girl whom had gone to school with them.

The other one had the same affect on Draco; it was an unneeded question. He asked her what she would've done had Astoria lived. Instead of going into some long answer, all she had said was, _"She's dead, so we will never know." _

Draco thought maybe Potter just wanted to have something to tell the reporters the next day. Looking down at her now, he could care less about what anyone said; he could care less about the questions that went unanswered. She was safe in his arms, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

><p><strong>Up next: <strong>The epilogue. Leave some reviews, it's nearly done lovelies!


	15. Epilogue

Thanks to my beta, **ViralAnomaly**!

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* * *

><p><strong>Week 48: Epilogue<strong>

* * *

><p>He wasn't sure why she decided to come here today of all days. They had abandoned dinner at Hogwarts to make it on time to Blaise's apartment, but here she was demanding that they make a stop. And now he had followed her from Marcus's gravesite over to Astoria's.<p>

They were in relaxed dress robes, just enough to make the occasion special. He wanted her to feel special today, but he didn't see that happening yet. Their detour would probably only depress her, and that's not what he wanted her to do today.

Derek Parkinson had stopped them in the hallway on the way out to give her a long pink rose for this visit. She had obviously told him at least that she planned to come here, unlike Draco, who hadn't even known she had asked.

They had spent perhaps five minutes at her estranged, dead husbands site, and all she had done was tell him how much better she felt now that he was gone from her life, but that she didn't think he deserved to die. Draco wasn't sure he agreed with that part, but said nothing as she released pent up anger that had never been spoken, despite seeing him at the trial before his death. They still didn't know the reason he had to die, or how his killer had gotten into Azkaban, but the blond didn't care anymore. Apparently, neither did she.

She obviously needed closure from this stage in her life, and he was happy to see her embarking on that path, even if it wasn't a very fitting day for it. He hoped that this unpleasant visit would give her just that, and let her stop feeling so awful for what happened to those two.

He walked a few paces behind her towards Astoria's gravesite, wondering if her visit here would be as colorful as the stop at Flint's. Pent up anger can eventually make one snap, and it was very interesting to listen to her final goodbye to him, involving everything he had done to her. Letting her feelings out really seemed to help her there, and she had turned away smiling.

He watched her place the rose in front of her gray tombstone, the stark contrast a surprise to him. The two colors reflected both woman's personalities so well; tainted and pure, sadistic and clever. He didn't know how exactly it had ended up so perfect. The colors reflected the two girls, and the colors of their hearts. He wasn't sure Astoria deserved to die, since she was bloody insane at the end of her life, but he was sure that she couldn't hurt anyone now. He didn't think anyone would appreciate that, because he certainly hadn't.

The blond sincerely wanted to reach out and remove her entirely from this place. The late September weather made this place tolerable, but she seemed so sad here he couldn't stand it. Even from his spot a few feet back he could see her shoulders lightly shaking, but he couldn't hear her sobs. Whatever she was mumbling, there on the ground, was beyond him. There were no screams like when she went to see Flint's, just quiet whispers. He wondered what she could be saying.

The space between them was needed at the moment. Whatever she was mumbling was private between the two, and it would be wrong to listen in. He could respect her for looking back on her nightmares and facing them head on, trying to make them right. He had yet to fully accomplish that task.

After a few more minutes, he stepped forward, having heard her mumbling stop. Sitting beside her on the grass, he noted her damp cheeks and slightly runny make-up. Reaching a hand over, he brushed a stray tear away. "Why do you cry over this?"

"Because its sad," she said, not looking at him. "She died probably without even ever realizing her viewpoint was wrong; Marcus died in Azkaban trying to serve his time. Neither of them deserved death Draco, but here they are, six feet under us in coffins."

He nodded and brushed her hair behind her ear. "Yes, they are, but we have gone over this so many times Hermione. Nothing is going to change."

"I know," she sighed, looking at him. "I'm learning to accept that."

He beamed at her, running his hand up to cup her cheek. "That's good to hear, love."

With a slightly strained smile on her face, she stood, rose forgotten on the ground. He followed quickly and placed a hand on her waist in a semi-embrace as she looked around. "It's so beautiful for such a sad place."

"I think they do that for a reason Granger. You can't go around sending mourning, depressed people to depressing places. Nothing good will come out of that."

Her smile grew a bit. "I suppose you are right."

"I'm always right doll," he said playfully, taking both her hands in his and kissing the knuckles. "Now may we get out of here? Blaise will be severely annoyed that you are late to your own birthday party."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "That's the silliest thing I have ever heard Malfoy. You cannot be late to your own party."

"Oh, but you can," he replied, wrapping an arm around her waist, thankful for the change of topics. "Now come on, we better get out of here before you find someone else to visit."

Before she could reply, he pulled her into a kiss and apparated them away.

* * *

><p>"You're late," Blaise commented as the duo walked into the living room of Blaise's home. Everyone else seemed to already be present, sitting around with some sort of drink or food in their hands. Hermione smiled kindly to the people assembled in the Italian's living room as Draco guided them to two seats on the couch that had been left open for them. As he assembled himself a drink, she looked around.<p>

Ginny and Blaise sat in two comfortable kitchen chairs, side-by-side so the guests could have the best furniture. She had moved in with Blaise only a month ago when he finally decided to let her in, and had been apparently happy since. They looked so good together, laughing at something that Harry had said, who was dateless tonight.

After so many fights with Pansy, the pair had broken up. Too many differences, not enough things in common. And apparently, she couldn't stop bitching about everything she possibly could. As Draco had once said, _'she's simply impossible to change'. _So the pair had broken up and her best friend had been dating Hannah Abbot off and on, after working so close to her during Hermione's near-coma time. The brunette had yet to discover how that relationship got anywhere.

Pansy was dating a Slytherin boy who had been a year or so ahead of them at Hogwarts, and Hermione had yet to remember his name. The pair had only been dating a short time, but seemed to be going well. She thought it was a far better fit; Pansy's personality seemed to mesh beautifully with her new boyfriends.

Beside Pansy's boyfriend sat Daphne, who still looked rather worn. Her sister's death had taken a toll on her, and it had been obvious the last several months. The once talkative girl now spent most of her time in silence, rarely venturing out to shop. Her pretty blond hair had less of a sheen to it, now that she didn't spend half of her life primping.

Hermione worried for her. She had told the blond a few days ago that she planned to visit Astoria's gravestone today, and the girl had called her brave. She didn't think she could do that yet, but it had been months! Everyone knew that part of her depression was that Astoria had been her last relative, since her mother died last year and her father was killed during the war. Now alone, she must really feel forgotten.

But that wouldn't make sense, considering she spent so much time with Theo. No one seemed to know if they were dating, but the couple didn't seem keen on telling anyone. Whenever asked, Daphne looked away and Theo grinned. Definitely mixed signals.

At least Theo was there for her. Ever since he chased her out that one day, the day she ran from this same apartment, he had been by her side, and Greengrass knew it. Despite having females to console with, she chose the masculine Slytherin to divulge her feelings into. She wondered how Theo felt about that. _He probably just likes that she trusts him with those thoughts,_ Hermione decided.

Her twenty-second birthday was turning out to be like nothing she had ever planned for, and it couldn't be better. Life hadn't been exactly kind to her, but it had been kind enough to land her in this situation right now. Taking the drink Draco extended to her, she smiled.

Life goes on, even after the most awful events.

* * *

><p>"We'll get together next week," Hermione agreed, smiling at the redhead as she departed Blaise's flat. After her betrayal, she had never thought Ginny would be considered a friend again, but anyone with eyes could see that she had changed, and for the better. Besides, if Zabini could trust her in his home, Hermione could at least trust her as a friend. Waving goodbye, she and Draco stepped into the Floo together and returned to their own flat.<p>

She stepped out first and fell on the couch, thankful she had only one drink. Her alcohol tolerance had not improved since the last time she drank, and a repeat might be interesting for Draco, but it wasn't what she wanted to do on her birthday. She wanted to be fully aware of everything around her today. Thinking back, the situation could be considered funny.

_Draco's mind traveled elsewhere, and he nearly lost track of everything before ripping his mind away from her sentence. "What appearance?"_

_"I dunno! Good image?"_

_He nodded. "And so you ran away from him?"_

_She nodded her head vigorously. "Yes! I brewed a potion-it took forever!-and got my way out of the house. I wanted until he was super pissed and storming to his friends before I ran in and got my stuff. Then I found you, and look now!" She batted her eyes at him, and he found it very unappealing from her. It didn't fit her person. "I'm with you and I'm happy."_

_"I'm happy too." She smiled widely at his comment and scooted closer, causing his hand to slide quite a bit farther up then he intended and his slender fingers grazed the crotch of her pajamas. "Tease."_

_"I love it here," she said sleepily, and he realized she was falling asleep against him._

_"Me too," he replied, smirking. But it faltered when she began giggling. "What's so funny?"_

_Still chuckling she replied, "I'm gonna puke on you later." She continued with her laughter._

_Deciding he'd seen enough of his drunken roommate, he pushed her off of him back against the couch and patted her shoulder, conjuring a wastebasket. "You'll want this then."_

Well, maybe vaguely funny. She smiled as the thoughts disappeared and Draco sat down on the couch beside her, gazing down at her. "Comfortable?"

She shrugged. "Somewhat."

He smirked and leaned down kissing her neck. "I bet my bed is far better. Would you like to visit it again?"

Reaching behind her head, she hit him with a pillow. "That was terribly corny you know."

He smirked. "I'm aware," he said, but didn't raise his head and continued his trek down her body. "But I could care less at the moment Hermione," he continued, sliding the cloak off her shoulder and biting her skin.

Smiling, she grasped his fair hair and gripped as he bit harder, content with not replying. Why ruin the moment, after all?

* * *

><p>Later that night Hermione found herself in the kitchen searching for food. Her mind wouldn't settle, and although Draco could be a very good distraction, he wasn't enough at the moment now that he was asleep. Having discovered a chocolate bar, she sat on the sofa again and delved into her thoughts.<p>

Work had been going great. Her break periods were conveniently at the same time as Draco's, so he would often take her around the campus for walks or to his office to just talk, and once other things. Her cheeks stained at the thought of what they did in that office. Thank Merlin they were working in a wizarding facility and video cameras didn't exist. She enjoyed her job, and most of the students that came with. It seemed some Slytherin's still didn't not like her because she was a 'Mudblood', but it was hard to call one's teacher that when they had to go to the next class and deal with her boyfriend. If Hermione wasn't scary enough that day Draco certainly was. She loved the way things were going.

Even Derek Parkinson was better. He had gotten into some trouble for helping Astoria, but she had no idea what his punishment had been. Obviously, it was not severe enough to keep him from the school. The first day of classes he had properly said sorry for causing them so much distress. He had overtime turned into one of her favorite students.

She was twenty-two today and could probably own all of Diagon Alley if she invested right, but Draco's money still sat unused in its vault. She had no reason to use such a large amount of galleons, and instead kept nearly all of it in there since he had given it all to her. She planned to return it one of these days, if he didn't fall out on his promise for marriage. Who know what would happen in the future?

The girl shook her head. They had yet to even date a year. Marriage was a far off thought.

She leaned further into the couch. Going to visit Marcus's and Astoria's tombstones earlier that day had been good for her. She wasn't about to say she planned to go back every year, because she hoped to never go back. Draco had been looking at her worriedly the past few months as she tried to move that part of memory into the back of her mind. Everything involving those two had caused so many problems, but without them she would never have met this side of Draco either. She needed to at least acknowledge that.

But now she had gone and said everything she possibly could. They were not here anymore, but the gravesites would remain. She had yelled at Marcus for everything he did to her, everything he put her through and how he had tried to destroy her life, and it felt like a heavy weight had been moved off her chest.

Astoria was different though. She hadn't ever let her voice rise above a mumble, because it was too delicate to talk about the girl aloud. Daphne had been getting hell from reporters for months about everything that happened to her sister, and it was the unspoken rule that you never spoke of her aloud. Or at least, not until the girl could come to terms with her sisters departure. She hoped for the girl's sake that Theo really stated pushing her, or she would always be depressed over the past.

She had also attended Astoria's funeral, whereas Marcus's happened during the last events with the Greengrass girl, and she wouldn't have been able to make it anyways unless she sincerely wanted to, and she didn't. She didn't care to go to his funeral, because there was no way he would've ever gone to hers. But at Astoria's, she had sat beside Draco and Harry in the front to support Daphne, and had even cried. She couldn't help it; the circumstances surrounding the girl's death were less then pleasant, and she had been right there beside her in the bitter end.

Draco had waited after with her, Theo and Daphne once everyone had departed, and allowed both girls the time needed to stand and stare at the grave marker. Hermione cried a bit, and wondered why no one had jumped to save the girls life, but Daphne's face remained stony until she left with Theo, out of Hermione's range.

The monster she had married was buried deep, and the monster she had encountered joined him in the same place. It was fitting, but depressing.

She nearly wanted to laugh at her thoughts. She was comparing two individuals who almost hand the same mindset, but one was far more violent, the other too mentally unstable to be considered severely violent in her mind.

Her mindset changed then. She was living with a Malfoy of all people- and dating him as well- in a relationship that seemed to be going strong. That made her feel good to know. They had stupid fights over things sometimes, but she had a good feeling about the blond. Saying he was the one would be jumping ahead of herself, but she could at least picture a future with him. So long as she could stand the idea, see it in her mind, then the relationship would continue to work.

She secretly hoped it would never stop, but that was jumping ahead of herself as well. There had been so many nice moments with Draco. Her Christmas here jumped into her mind.

_Getting out of bed, she also realized there was a small box sitting at the door to the room, wrapped in red and gold paper that reflected in the lamplight of the room. She wandered to it and picked the box up, rather cautious._

_She tore the paper and opened the box, deciding if this was something awful she didn't want Draco seeing her face when it was opened._

_Inside were a pair of ruby studs, with gold in the center. The note inside the box was written in girly handwriting which Hermione could only assume was Draco's rich script:_

_To the inner "Gryffindor" inside._

_Wasn't that just cute? She inwardly cursed herself as she looked at the present, remembering how she had failed to buy him one on Monday when they had abruptly left the mall._

_Merry Christmas Draco, here's a blowjob._

_Yeah, that could possibly work...if she were an expert at that particular art._

_She sighed, opened the door to the living room and stepped out, pausing in her footsteps._

_Draco was asleep on the couch, one arm thrown over his eyes. The room had been decorated, with a fairly large tree with assorted bulbs and similar decorations on the walls. Presents littered the floor beneath the tree, and he had even pulled out a bottle of wine for them._

_She looked around the room in awe. It had been a few years since she had had a nice Christmas, and none of her previous boys' had decorated anything by hand._

_She walked to Draco side and stared at his face. He looked utterly exhausted, and was sleeping deeply. Hermione smiled to herself. He'd spent all of yesterday working to keep her safe, beating on people, and then explaining himself more then she was sure he cared to._

_How did Draco end up being someone's dream boy exactly?_

_She looked down at the earrings, so very Gryffindor, and smiled. He could've stuck to his true nature after all, and gone with silver and green. She turned to get to the room, and spotted a second box. Curiosity killed her, and she picked it up, becoming irritated to find a second note taped to the top:_

_Don't open this until I'm awake, will you? I understand you're naturally curious, but I believe that after having a drink and getting dressed (though I think I prefer you most in my shirt) wake me up and you can yell at me for all the presents._

_~Draco_

_P.S~_

_No, I don't regret the present either. Enjoy those utterly "Gryffindor" earrings._

_She rolled her eyes. Leave it to Draco to leave a note on a box before passing out. She decided to heed his word, and went into the bedroom to get dressed, and wear her new, far to expensive earrings._

_There is too much money spent on these earrings alone._

Funny thing was, she could probably buy him a golden broomstick to display in his house now that she had all the money. But, she would then have to discard the item because it would be hideous and could never be seen. The idiotic thought made her chuckle. So her relationship with Draco was going strong; she could only hope it stayed that way.

Christmas reminded her of the first time she called her parents.

_"I-I haven't talked to my parents in almost two years," she said, spilling out words rather quickly. "While I was with Flint, he didn't really allow the family contact and sent useless cards with absolutely no meaning to my parents so they knew I was still alive. They haven't heard from me in so long...please don't go-"_

_"Breathe," he interjected, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Hyperventilating on the sofa wont help matters either." He walked back to the couch and sat down, relaxing the best he could. "I don't see how me being here will help you with a phone call, but whatever makes you feel better." He beckoned to the phone._

_She gave him a faint smile. "It makes me feel less alone." She scooted slightly closer and relaxed against him, hating herself for seeming so scared of the call. It was a phone call! They wouldn't be able to see her, or Draco, and she wouldn't see them._

_The phone rang. Again. Three times..._

_"Hello?" An older males voice picked up the phone, sounding irritated and half awake._

_"Dad," Hermione squeaked, surprised how he sounded the exact same as the last time she had seen him, just under two years ago._

_"Hermione," he mumbled, sounding much more awake then before. "Is that you?"_

_"Hi dad," she said again, her voice choking. Between divorcing Krum, getting picked up by Marcus, working at Hogwarts for long hours, and keeping herself together, not to mention getting away from Marcus and to Draco's, she hadn't had time in between to settle down and make this call, a fact she deeply regretted. A single tear rolled down her face at the realization that this truly was her father, speaking to her through the phone. Draco noticed the liquid running down her face and pulled her closer to him, his eyebrows drawing together, and she didn't push him away._

_"Goodness Hermione," he said, "where have you been? No calls, no message on the Christmas cards! And so few of those! We haven't heard anything from you in forever!"_

_"I know," Hermione said, rubbing her temples. "I've been dealing with some things...they've kept me away for a long time-"_

_"Dealing with things," her father asked angrily. "I believe this is the second husband in the last what? Two years? Whatever happened to that nice-"_

_There was a voice in the background that cut off his sentence, and Hermione heard shuffling as the phone was transferred over to a woman's voice. "Hermione?"_

_"Mom!" Hermione let another tear or two slip, and Draco pulled her even closer, muting the television. "I missed you."_

_"We missed you too honey." Her mom sounded happy, but Hermione could hear the distant undertone of fear. "Are you still with that Flint fellow? I don't like him, never did. Didn't like the rushed marriage or that he kept you away or that-"_

_"I'm not," Hermione cut in, glancing at Draco. "I have no need to be with him. I found someone else. He's been taking care of me." It wasn't a lie, not really._

_"Another man?" Her mother sounded horrified. "Hermione, don't tell me you're-"_

_"No mom, no, we're not married." She glanced at Draco. "We just started seeing each other." Draco, was openly staring at her now, one eyebrow raised up in an unspoken question, yet a smirk played at his lips._

_"Do we get to meet this one before you tie anything? Hermione, you've been with so many men and gotten married so quickly-"_

_"I know mom, I know." She sighed. "Its not going to be that way anymore."_

_"Do we get to see you? You've been so distant dear."_

_"Yes, of course! I'd love to come see you and dad!"_

_"Christmas eve? You can bring the boy with if he can make it."_

_She bit her lip. "I'm attending a ball for work Christmas eve. Can I come see you sometime Christmas day? I'll bring him with if he wants to come."_

_"Please do! We miss having you here Hermione." She was quiet for a moment, and her voice grew softer. "We haven't had a party here in two years, it isn't the same. Its too late now to plan one, and I'm sure a party would be too much for this new boy anyways. You're taking things slow right?"_

_"Yes mom," Hermione said, fearing this conversation would spin down a path she didn't yet want to step on. "I'll ask him about everything and get back to you before Wednesday night, okay?"_

_"Okay honey, but I better go. We were about to do some last minute shopping, and we have to pick up things for you two! What kinds of things does this boy like?"_

_Hermione chuckled, before realizing she wasn't quite sure what Draco liked. She glanced at him, but he was studying her legs instead of her face at this point. "Interesting things. I've got to go mother, busy plans! I'll come visit soon."_

_"Ok darling, we'll talk Wednesday. Its just so good to hear from you."_

_"Agreed. Bye mom. I love you."_

_"I love you too honey, bye." Hermione heard the click and flipped Draco's phone shut, suddenly feeling very heavy._

Her parents had finally learned to accept Draco. That was not to say that they were hoping for a marriage anytime soon, but that they accepted him and understood how he felt about their daughter. She remembered they would be visiting them next week and she had yet to tell Draco. _I'm sure he can take a short trip to my parents house..._

They had yet to come here, but she hoped to change that soon. Finished with her late snack she threw away the wrapper and headed back to the bedroom, finding Draco awake.

"Something wrong," he asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

She shook her head, sliding her slippers off and sliding into bed. "Nothing. I just wanted to think."

He nodded, yawning. "Couldn't you think during daylight? It's late Hermione."

She stuck out her tongue. "Just because you had a bit to drink tonight doesn't mean that I have to sleep with you. I'm not very tired anyways."

The blond nodded, falling back against the pillows. "I suppose not. Are you going to try to sleep now?"

"I suppose." She laid down, and felt his arms instantly pull her against his front, locking her against him. She sighed and snuggled into the bed, enjoying their position.

There was still something though that was plaguing her thoughts. "Draco?"

"Mmm?"

"Whatever did that list mean," she asked, hoping he knew what she was talking about.

"What list," he grumbled.

"The list," she said, "the list that you made a long time ago, with six things on it."

He moved away from her, now leaning over her instead of holding her. "Six things?"

"Yes. You made a list, months ago, that I found, and I was wondering-"

"You bring that up after all this time," he asked, reaching over and flipping on the light. "Wait- where did you even find that?"

She smiled up at him remembering how she originally found the list.

_She wandered over, placing the necklace quietly on the coffee table. Taking her kitten in her arms, she nuzzled its face, causing the animal to squirm. She smiled happily, placing the grumpy cat in her lap as she looked over at Draco._

_He looks at ease whenever he sleeps. She smiled lightly, lightly running her fingertips over his cheek, when the cat suddenly jumped onto the table and knocked off his paper._

_"Darn," Hermione said, shaking her head as she bent to pick up the fallen parchment. Replacing it on the table, she noticed there was a list written there, with her name placed within the text several times. Raising an eyebrow, she read the list three times before replacing it onto the table._

_Charm Hermione? Tell Hermione about the necklace? Tell Hermione about my inheritance? Tell Hermione about my wand? The ring? What the hell is Malfoy getting at? She looked at his face, still calm in his sleep. What is this list for?_

_Before she could consider it, Hermione pulled out her wand a blank sheet of parchment from behind the list, and magically made a copy for herself. Tucking it away into her bag, she flipped over his own paper and kissed Draco's cheek lightly, traveling towards his ear as the boy woke up._

_What are you hiding from me Draco? Whatever it is, I intend to make sense of this list._

"In plain site," she said, coming out of her memory. The confused expression on his face propelled her to continue. "You left it on the table one day and I made a copy."

He blanched. "Hermione-"

"Draco," she interrupted, sliding away from him. She got off the bed to search for her scrap of paper, located someplace in her own dresser. Once she found it, she turned back and displayed the list to him, three things still left unchecked.

_1. Tell Hermione about the necklace._

_2. Go back to the Manor._

_3. Explain the dilemma with my inheritance._

_4. Dig up the ring._

_5. Explain the loss of my wand to Hermione._

_6. Charm Hermione._

Two, four and six were not marked. He noted that the only things she had figured out were the things he told her. And honestly, she would never have figured out the Manor, granted that he returned to the place when she was missing. He looked back up at her and met her eyes.

"You figured out the ones told to you?"

She glared. "Well, those three things are highly confusing. _Charm Hermione? Go back to the Manor? Dig up the ring?_ What ring? Didn't you wear one that connected with my necklace-"

"Slow down," he said, smirking. "One thing at a time; its too late for me to come up with witty replies."

Sighing, she leaned back. "Fine then Draco. Would you mind explaining things to me?"

He smirked. "Of course not." Throwing an arm over her shoulder, he pulled her back onto the covers again. She whispered a spell beside him and the ceiling disappeared so they could see the night sky. "I'm surprised you haven't already figured some of them out," he continued after a moment.

The girl shrugged. "I tried to, but then things with Astoria stated happening really fast, and the list fell out of the picture. I forgot about it for so long; it only came to mind last week when you brought up the Manor." She paused and leaned on her elbow, looking down at him. "Whatever happened with the Manor anyways?"

He chuckled lightly. "I visited it while you were... with Astoria, you would never have known about it love."

"What happened there? Do you plan to move back?"

"I couldn't ever move back Hermione. You do currently have all of my money."

She shrugged against his arm. "And if you did have your money? Would you go back there?"

Instead of replying, he pressed his lips together. Would he go back?

_He could remember so many things about this place, from his childhood to watching his aunt carve words into Granger's skin. He could remember hiding like a coward in his rooms, away from the war when it became too much. He recalled his mother comforting him when his father started his Death Eater work again, and how scared it made him when he was too young to really understand._

_When he got older, his father pounded the things he was expected to follow into his head through countless hours of screaming and hitting. It had made him cold, and angry. Here was a man choosing his future for him, and Draco had absolutely hated it._

_Sitting down on a dusty piece of furniture, he put his head in his hands. Reflecting on everything between then and now, he couldn't decide which situation hurt him more; his family, or the girl he had fallen for?_

That answer was fairly obvious. His family would always have the emotional scars on him, but Hermione was right there at his side, and there was no pain. "I'm not so sure I would."

She nodded. "I didn't think you would either." Pressing her own lips together, she considered the next question. "Your paper also said you wanted to 'charm' me?" Eyes gleaming she smirked. "Do you think you succeeded?"

He pushed on her so that she was forced back on her back, and he was leaning over her now. "I think I did a pretty damn good job."

Laughing, she moved her head up and kissed him. "Not too bad... for a Malfoy."

He rolled his eyes.

* * *

><p>Theo pulled her closer to him on the couch, careful to keep his arm draped around her shoulders and only her shoulders. The girl remained stone-still as the muggle movie continued. He wanted her to smile more then anything else. It had been so long since Daphne smiled.<p>

She almost had at Hermione's birthday earlier, but refused. It wasn't that she couldn't smile- because he would see her smile down at photos of her deceased sister when she thought she was alone or he was asleep- but that she didn't_ want _to smile. He guessed that she felt bad about it, for whatever reason.

But it had been long enough, and it was time she started moving on.

He flipped the television off and turned towards her body, her expression forever stony. "Hey, Daphne," he said softly, drawing her face up to look at him.

Her eyes never gained any warmth, and he took that as an initiative to keep going. Brushing hair from her forehead, he kissed her temple. "It's going to be alright you know."

Leaning back, he met her stony eyes, the expression wavering there. Reaching into his pocket, he drew out a photo of the girl he was careful to never mention. "She wouldn't want you to be so depressed," he continued, pressing the picture into her hand. "She may not have completely been there in the end, but I'm sure she never meant for you to suffer."

The blond laughed dryly. "Where did you get that idea?"

Nodding towards the photograph, he spoke: "She never once targeted you. Ever single problem she ever caused was done away from your presence save one at your Mansion before her disappearance."

She nodded in return, but stiffly.

"We'll never really know what she was thinking," he continued, "but I don't think she ever meant to hurt you."

It happened slowly at first, and he feared his words had done nothing, but slowly her grip on the photograph tightened until it tore at the bottom and the stony exterior she had constructed crumbled.

And Theo was right there to support her when she fell apart. He thought it was fitting that both girls who were closely involved with Astoria learned to slowly move on, on the very same day.

* * *

><p>"What about the necklace," Hermione asked, playing with a piece of his hair. He was on his back and she on her front, leaning over him as she toyed with his hair.<p>

"You already know the answer to that," he replied, frowning.

She smiled. "Yes, but the last thing on here is 'the ring'. When you originally gave it to me, you talked about a ring too." She remembered it very clearly; a ring with the same sort of stone in it that he had worn perhaps once?

Draco nodded, remembering that day very well. "I did. The ring allowed me to know how you were and what was happening to you. All it really did was enhance the connection between us I suppose, since I was already connected through my blood." He ignored the small flinch she had as he said this, deciding not to dwell on the past, "But this is not the same ring, and I'm certain you can figure out all on your own what type of ring it was without my help."

She instantly thought back to his proposal, his _admittance. _He had needed someone to marry originally, to keep his fortune... "An engagement ring?"

He nodded. "But, I realized that was not the way you wanted things to go, so I hid it away."

The girl frowned. "Where?"

He smirked, brushing her hair behind her ear. "Have you already forgotten about my room?"

* * *

><p>Ginny watched him from the other side of his kitchen. They had finished cleaning up the party, and now she was just waiting for him to collect them a bottle of wine. Why wine? Well, she had absolutely no idea.<p>

"Here we go," he said, appearing from a magically enlarged cupboard. "I think you will like this one."

"And why do you say that," she asked, leaning her hands on him as he set the bottle aside.

With a wink, he replied, "Because its red."

She chuckled. "You think I will enjoy it because of the color of my hair?"

"It's possible," he replied, grabbing the bottle and her hand. Dragging her into his room, he was just glad their relationship had not ended so abruptly, like Potter's.

* * *

><p>Hermione's eyes lit up at the mention of his hidden room, and her smile matched his grin. "Of course! That would make sense; I would hide a ring in the best place possible as well! But," she continued, her smile falling to a frown, "I don't remember anywhere in that room having a place to keep things. There were no drawers or anything."<p>

Draco clicked his tongue. "Oh, if you only knew." Standing, he moved away from her and walked towards his bookcase, Hermione standing to follow. He removed the telltale book and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Would you like to see this ring?"

She nodded, ready to follow him in, but he kissed her lips and threw her playfully back on the bed. "No, no, no love," he said grinning, "I have to still have a few secrets." He disappeared into the room.

Her curious side wanted to desperately follow him, but she restrained. He had already gotten her back to the comfortable mattress, and she was certain that she could figure out his 'hidden spot' for the ring tomorrow so long as she went in and looked thoroughly.

He appeared a moment later, a large engagement ring nestled into his palm. Handing it to her, her eyes grew large. "Merlin, this is an engagement ring to the rich? It looks like a rock!"

Draco nodded, agreeing that the ring was perhaps a little too large for its own good. An idea flashed through his mind. "Yes it is, but it could be your rock someday."

Her head shot up, but a smirk played on her features. _Good, she understands I am joking and won't hex me. _"But that's not a promise, now is it?"

He grins. "That's a very sneaky smirk there Granger," he said, breathing on her face. Reaching down to capture her lips in his, he continued, "It can be a promise, if you'd like."

There was a moments pause in conversation as their kiss ended, and he wondered if he had taken it a step too far. Instead of blowing up at him, however, she flipped her hair and smirked again. "Perhaps... it's not rally my taste though."

Leaning in close again, he spoke, "It changes to whatever design the wearer wants, so long as it is done before the marriage."

"Handy," she replied. "You could never be wrong."

Nodding, he drug her down on top of him, the heavy ring falling someplace in the sheets and kissed her passionately. The response from her was more then he had expected. There was a silly aspect to the entire conversation, but seriousness as well. Hermione had in no way promised him a future together, nor denied that it was a bad idea. She had simply left her answer open.

And for now, that was enough.

* * *

><p><strong>~Fin~<strong>

**A/n: **Well, that's the end my lovelies! I hope you all enjoyed this epilogue! Now, before anyone asks, there is no scene with Harry or Pansy because they are no longer together, and I didn't want to reflect on new couples in the very last chapter. Hope you enjoyed my story, and let me know what you thought!

As it was last time, the character Draco is still modeled after my boyfriend, Dean :)

P.S~ There will be no further updates or sequels, just in case anyone is wondering.


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